Dart Through the Heart
by GiveAThimble
Summary: AU. "My point is Rachel, my main point is, that I care about you. I like you Rachel, and I want to be with you, and I have a feeling that you want to be with me too. Please say you want to be with me too."
1. Hey, He's Cute

They had met at the bar one night; Finn was sulking at the bar with his third beer and Santana was shaking her hips on the dance floor with a skimpy outfit on. She wasn't with anyone; strange men danced up to her and started grinding against her. They only lasted five minutes each, noticing that she didn't look very into it, and then went to find another hot woman by herself. He had his eyes on her the whole time from across the room, taking a sip of the beer and putting it back down. There was something about her that kept Finn looking; she had long, tanned legs, and shining, black hair. Her lips were full and had a chest that Finn found himself wanting to touch very much. She had to be the hottest girl he had ever seen.

Surely, he couldn't be half as good looking as she was, but she was giving him the same intent look that he was giving her. Finn wanted to know who this woman was; what was her name, why was she there, why wasn't she interested in any of the guys around her? He desperately wanted to talk to her, to see her face up close, and to press his body against hers.

Imagining how that would feel to have his groin up against hers, he stood up from where he sat and made his way towards the woman. He pushed through the crowds of dancing people, and she gave him a sexy smile as he stopped in front of her. When it came to dancing, a guy in a wheelchair could dance better than him, but he didn't have to worry about embarrassing himself in front of her; he only stood there as she ground her hips into his. Finn had this stupid grin plastered on his face as she did this, taking her hips and grinding them harder against him. A moan escaped his lips, making the girl smile even bigger, wrapping a hand around his neck to drag him down for a kiss.

It was official; Finn had met his future wife.

FSFSFSFS

The alarm clock at his bedside woke him up, making Finn groan into his pillow. He shoved the pillow over his head, hearing the footsteps by his head, and her familiar breathing as she turned the alarm off for him. Finn closed his eyes, silently thanking his girlfriend for doing that for him, considering the fact that most of the time; she didn't do anything for him at all.

"Get up, Finn." Santana said, nudging his sleeping form in the bed with her hip. Finn groaned again; he should have known that the silence couldn't last. "Oh, don't be such a baby. Just get up."

Santana's footsteps made the wooden floor creak as he heard her walk out of his bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen. She was making her morning visit to Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast as always, where she would pick up a breakfast sandwich for him. _It's an easy way to spend money,_ Finn thought to him as he crawled out of bed. The front door slammed shut after Santana, leaving Finn in the apartment alone.

Finn didn't understand why Santana still refused to move in with him; she always spent her nights at his place. He wondered if she actually used her bedroom anymore. Santana would always come to his apartment at six with takeout, an hour after he got out of work, and spend dinner and the night there. Then, in the morning she would bring back breakfast from Dunkin' Donuts and they would eat together before going to work. It was like they lived together.

He trudged into the kitchen, sitting himself down at the small, round table and picking up the scary red letter in the mail pile. Opening the letter, Finn washed himself in memories of his and Santana's relationship. That night at the bar, things had moved pretty quickly when they made their way back to Finn's apartment. He thought it was going to be a simple one night stand, but found that it wasn't when Santana called the day after, asking him if he wanted to go out for coffee. If it had been any other girl, Finn would have come up with an excuse as to why he couldn't make it, but he liked Santana, so he agreed. Things sort of sky rocketed from there; before Finn knew it, Santana was meeting his family. They had been together for a little over a year now, and Finn couldn't remember his life before her. Well, he could remember it, but she had changed it a whole lot.

The door opened again and Santana walked in, wearing flip flops and one of his old high school sweatshirts, along with the golden sapphire necklace he got her for their one year anniversary. She was wearing a tank top and short shorts underneath, so it looked like she had nothing on but the sweatshirt and the necklace. Finn could already imagine all the attention she was attracting with that outfit; she always wore that when she went to get breakfast.

"Couldn't put on some regular clothes?" he asked as Santana took the seat opposite of him. Her hair was in a messy bun with a few strands hanging loose, sunglasses on her head. She took them off, and pulled his breakfast out of the brown bag, handing it over.

"These are regular clothes." She said simply, opening up the fridge to get some orange juice. Santana poured two glasses of orange juice, handing one to Finn as she sat back down.

"Those are regular clothes to wear inside the house, but not outside." Finn argued, taking a bite of his sandwich. Santana glared at him as she ate her breakfast; it was so easy to piss her off. A lot of the time, Finn found himself getting her pissed off at him for no reason at all, usually leading to loud voices and doors being slammed, and then her breaking down into tears with him holding her closely. That's usually how those things started and ended.

"Whatever." Santana mumbled against her food. Finn finished his food in silence, and then stood up to take a shower and get ready for work. Like every day, Santana was able to join him.

RQRQRQRQ

"And so the 'Rachel Berry Cheer up Extravaganza' begins!" Quinn said cheerfully. Rachel frowned at her as Quinn sipped her ice tea through her straw. The two of them sat outside of a small restaurant at a small table, with a blue umbrella over them. Rachel watched the cars busily pass by as Quinn kept smiling and drinking her ice tea. "This is so exciting!"

"Hardly." Rachel said darkly, looking down at her fruit plate, and rearranging the pineapple pieces again with her fork. Quinn ignored her, and took a deep breathe, taking in all the fresh air.

"Oh, Rachel, cheer up! Jessie is a complete idiot for not wanting to be with a girl like you. It's his loss." The pretty blonde told the brunette. Rachel glanced at her before looking back down at the fruit. She could still feel Jessie's hands all over her body.

"More like his gain. We _did _have sex." She pointed out, and Quinn shot her a pity look. Jessie had been so enchanting when Rachel first met him; he was the main lead in the Broadway musical, Spring Awakening, and Rachel had the pleasure of going back stage after the show to meet him. They had clicked immediately, Jessie offering to take Rachel out to dinner. One date, two dates, three dates, and Jessie had Rachel naked on her bed. Rachel woke up the next morning to find she was alone with a sticky note on the microwave, telling her to not bother calling anymore. The relationship ended there.

"He was a douche bag, but fortunately, you're moving on so you can forget about him." She said, and Rachel gave her a small nod. It was good to have a best friend like Quinn around; she always made sure Rachel was in high spirits. They had first met in college, where they shared a dorm, and Rachel didn't think they would get along, but fate tricked her. They ended up becoming best friends, even moving in together after college in New York.

"I guess so." Rachel agreed, and Quinn flashed Rachel a perfect smile. The two of them finished their breakfast, and then walked down the sidewalk arm in arm. Rachel scanned the people passing by her, as did Quinn.

"No one's catching my attention, Quinn." Rachel said as they kept walking, making sure to look into every guy's face who passed her by. They turned a corner while Quinn bit her bottom lip in concentration.

"We'll go to the art museum a few blocks away. There's always cute, smart guys there." She told Rachel, and she dragged her in the direction of the museum.

FRFRFRFR

The two women starred at the mix of colors that was called a painting. In Rachel's opinion, it looked like it had been made by a six year old, and she and Quinn looked at it with blank expressions. Rachel twirled a strand of hair around her finger in boredom. The entire museum was silent; the only other people there were old people and the security guards.

"Are we supposed to be seeing something here?" Rachel asked, voicing the question in her head. Quinn looked at the painting for a moment longer, shifting her eyes to below the portrait.

"And they don't even have one of those plaque things with the artist's name and information on it." Quinn said, gesturing to the empty space on the wall where the plaque should have been. Rachel thought that plaque or not, the painting would still look just as bad, but Quinn seemed to think that the plaque was the problem. She turned to one of the security guards who were standing at the end of the hall. "Excuse me, over here."

Rachel felt herself going red from embarrassment by Quinn as the security guard slowly walked to where they stood. As he came closer, Rachel noticed he looked much younger then she thought he was; he looked like he was her age, maybe a year younger. She noticed that he was a little scruffy in the face and wore metal glasses. He had messy brown hair, and amber eyes, amber eyes that Rachel found hard not to look at. He was really tall too, like, taller than the usual person, and had a very muscular chest. What was someone as perfect as him working at a place as boring as here?

"Yes, ma'am?" he asked politely, but looking very bored and miserable at the same time. Quinn glanced down at his name tag, seeming oblivious to his good looks. How could Quinn not be distracted, but Rachel was?

"Mr. Finn Hudson, where's the plaque for this painting? I don't see one." Quinn asked, pointing to the blank wall. The man named Finn looked down to where she was pointing, his eyebrows pulling together in confusion.

"Err, I don't know. Honestly, I don't really know anything about any of these paintings." Finn told them, scratching the back of his neck. Rachel gazed at him, having trouble opening her mouth. She couldn't stop starring!

"So you're just as clueless as we are?" Quinn asked, and Finn laughed. Rachel smiled.

"Yeah, I guess so." He said, shrugging. He was just relieved that these two girls weren't giving him death looks for not even knowing things about the place he worked at. Rachel finally seemed to find her voice.

"I don't even see what's so great about this painting, to begin with." Rachel added to the conversation, and Finn's eyes turned to her and gave her a wide smile.

"I don't either. It looks like it was made by someone who was six." He agreed, and Rachel's eyes lighted up at his words. How was it that this man could read her mind? She was staring at Finn again, and Quinn must have noticed, because her eyes shifted from Rachel to Finn, and then back.

"Why do you work here if you're not into any of this stuff?" Rachel asked, as Quinn smiled to herself. She knew her best friend enough to know what was going on here. Finn was silent for a moment; clearly this was a question he was never asked.

"It pays the bills." He finally answered, and Rachel could understand that. It wasn't just Finn's looks that caught Rachel's attention, it was also the fact that he could speak the truth and laugh about it. It was like he wasn't afraid to outright say that his job was boring and he didn't care for it.

"Thank you anyway, Finn." Quinn said, breaking the conversation between Rachel and Finn. Finn turned to Quinn, forgetting she was there.

"I'm sorry I can't be more of a help." He said, quickly glancing back at Rachel. Quinn noted that he looked just as mesmerized with Rachel as Rachel did with him.

"Oh, you've been a great help." Rachel blurted out, and Quinn had to hold back her giggles. Rachel was doing what she always did when she quickly fell head over heels for a guy; flirt without thinking.

"Okay, well, see you two." Finn said awkwardly, before turning away and walking out of the hall. Rachel starred at where Finn had left. She heard Quinn giggling by her side.

"What's so funny?" Rachel snapped at her, as she turned around and walked the other way. Quinn followed her, still bursting with giggles.

"You are so in love with him!" Quinn squealed. Rachel rolled her eyes at her, walking towards the exit of the museum. Other than Finn, this trip to the museum had been a total waste.

"I am not!" she said indignantly. Quinn smiled at she grabbed Rachel by the arm, turning her around to face her. She gave her a look that said, "Really?" and Rachel sighed loudly. "Fine, I think Finn is completely adorable. What do you think the story is?"

At the last words, Quinn put her hand to her chin, thinking hard. Rachel had learned long ago that Quinn liked to make up stories for whenever Rachel met someone she was into, usually ending with Rachel getting the guy and living happily ever after. The last story Quinn had made up for Rachel was about Jessie; he would slowly fall in love with her, and want to marry her, but didn't think he could manage a steady marriage if it was known to the public. And by the end of the story, Jessie had quite Broadway to marry and raise a family with Rachel, but that story didn't play out as planned.

"They meet at a boring art museum," Quinn started, getting into it. "He's the handsome security guard and she's the heartbroken harlot. At first sight, she falls in love with him, coming to the museum every day just to see him. They start talking whenever she comes, and one day, he invites her to come to dinner with him and a couple of friends. The two of them go out, and he asks if she wants to go for coffee, she accepts the invitation, and eventually, they're dating and in love. He proposes in Paris on the Eiffel Tower, they get married, and have three beautiful children."

"You could write a book." Rachel complimented her after Quinn finished, smiling. Quinn smiled back, nudging her side, and looping her arm through Rachel's. They walk out into the busy city, a breeze blowing through Rachel's hair.

"No, I could write fanfiction, but not an actual book." Quinn said, and Rachel laughed. She was suddenly feeling a lot better than she did this morning.


	2. Wait, He Has a Girlfriend?

Santana was pulling on his arm before his alarm clock could go off. He grumbled some incoherent words as he pulled his arm out of her grip, rolling onto his back. She sighed as Finn threw the pillow over his head, not wanting to get out of bed. Santana took the pillow off of his face, and smacked his arm with it, making him reluctantly sit up. Finn tried to pull the pillow out of Santana's hands, but she held onto it tightly, causing her to fall into his lap when he tugged. Both of them laughing, Santana situated herself comfortably in Finn's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Why did you wake me up before my alarm can go off?" he asked, giving her a soft kiss. Santana smiled at him as she pulled away, putting her hands flat on his chest.

"I want you to go pick up breakfast." She whispered in his ear. Finn could feel her lips against his skin, making him shiver from the physical contact. Santana laid her head on his shoulder, waiting for an answer.

"Why can't you?" Finn whined, and Santana rolled her eyes into his shoulder.

"I don't feel like it today. Besides, I _always _do it, why can't you for once?" she asked, knowing that Finn would give in. A second later, he pushed her off his lap, and stood up, pulling a t-shirt and jeans on.

"Fine, I'll do it just this once." He said, and then Finn was walking out of the apartment and down the stairs. He was glad the Dunkin' Donuts was only a block away; Finn hated having to drive in the city, but he also hated having to take long walks to get to places. He opened the glass door to the Dunkin' Donuts, and walked in, the smell of coffee attacking him.

FRFRFRFR

Rachel was behind the counter, her chin in her hand. Quinn was standing on the other side of the counter, looking at Rachel in her brown uniform. That uniform just didn't look good on anyone. She noticed the dazed look on Rachel's face, and knew that she was still thinking about that security guard again. Ever since they left the museum the day before, Rachel had been rather quiet, her eyes very glassy.

"You've _got_ to stop thinking about him." Quinn told her, bringing Rachel back to earth. Her friends tapped her fingers on the counter, watching an old couple eating at one of the small tables in front of the window.

"I can't, Quinn. I can't get him off of my mind." Rachel said, and Quinn shook her head at her.

"Don't tell me you're thinking about actually going back to that museum, are you?" she asked, but Rachel never answered. She was still starring at the old couple, when she looked past them through the window. It was then that she saw a tall male walking down the sidewalk, turning to the entrance of the Dunkin' Donuts and opening the door. He was wearing jeans, a green t-shirt, and old, white sneakers. His hair looked more messy then it did yesterday, like he had literally just stepped out of bed, but he was still very handsome.

"Quinn!" Rachel gasped as he stepped into the room, walking towards the counter; the counter that she was at; the counter where she and Quinn stood. Quinn turned around to see what had made Rachel lose her breathe, when she saw him walking towards them. Her jaw dropped as she recognized who it was, quickly turning back to Rachel, her blonde hair whipping around.

"Just stay calm!" she whispered, but Rachel was still looking at Finn with an expression between fascination and horror. What was he doing here where she worked every day? Finally, after what seemed to be a million years, Finn had made it to the counter, already taking out his wallet. Quinn shifted over a little to give Finn more room, looking quickly from Rachel to Finn.

"How can I help you?" Rachel asked, trying to sound professional, but her voice still cracking from nerves. Finn didn't even look up from his wallet as he opened his mouth, but his eyebrows pulled together again, and he looked up at her. For a moment, he still stood there in confusion, and then realization struck him.

"Hey, you're that girl from the museum yesterday!" Finn said with a smile, pointing a finger at her. Rachel and Quinn both smiled; she couldn't get over the fact that he recognized her and was happy about it. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I work here." She was able to stutter, Quinn giving her a quick smile. Finn shook his head, laughing at her words.

"That's so funny; I live right down the street from here." He told her, still laughing. Rachel and Quinn both joined in. She couldn't believe it; she had been working here for almost a year now, and that entire time, Finn was living right down the street. Who would have known?

"It's a small world." Quinn said, and Finn turned to her, realizing she was there for the first time too. He smiled again.

"You're here too!"

"Yeah, I always hang out here." Quinn responded, and Finn laughed again. He obviously found this all very funny, and from what Quinn can see on Rachel's face, it made her love him even more

"So what can I get for you?" Rachel asked again, realizing that what she said can have a double meaning to it. She quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of her brain, wanting to be mature about all of this. What she said brought Finn's attention back to her and the reason he was here.

"Oh! I forgot about that! I'll have…" he said, biting his lip and looking up at the menu on the wall. He was looking very confused again as Rachel waited for the order. She quickly looked at Quinn, who looked just as clueless as to what was happening as Rachel was. "I don't really know what I'm having actually. I mean, I know what I want, but I don't know what it's called. My girlfriend always comes in here in the morning to buy the food, but today she had me do it."

Rachel and Quinn stare at him, both knowing exactly who he was talking about. She was the only customer who made a daily trip to this specific Dunkin' Donuts; an attractive, Latino girl who always wore nothing but a guy's big sweatshirt, flip flops, designer sunglasses, and a pretty golden, sapphire necklace. Rachel had always assumed she was a stripper, walking around in nothing but a sweatshirt and all, but she never imagined her to be Finn's girlfriend. Both girls looked at him in shock.

"Don't worry about it, Finn. Your… girlfriend always orders the same thing. Rachel has it memorized." Quinn said, recovering first. Rachel quickly followed, shaking her head from the shock. She nodded at Finn.

"Yeah, I know what you're ordering. Just hold on for a few minutes." She said, and then got to work behind the counter to make Finn his breakfast. She still couldn't believe it; Finn Hudson's girlfriend was the same girl who came in here every morning. Rachel had never bothered to learn the woman's name, only referring to her as the Latino who comes in every morning, and that was only to Quinn. She didn't ever think the name would be an importance to her.

"Here's everything. Ten dollars and thirty cents is your total." She said, handing Finn the small, brown bag that she had always given to his girlfriend. Oh, what a very small world it was indeed.

"Thanks," he said, looking at her name tag, "Thank you Rachel."

Something about the way he said her name made Rachel blush; it sounded like magic coming out of his mouth. She wanted to hear him say it again. Quinn cleared her throat, and once again, Rachel had to remind herself to not start daydreaming about Finn.

"You're welcome. Have a nice day." She said, as she gave him his change. He gave both her and Quinn a smile and a wave, before pushing the front door open and leaving the Dunkin' Donuts. When he was gone, Quinn turned to Rachel, her jaw dropped.

"I can't believe that just happened." Quinn said in a low whisper. Rachel was still starring at where Finn had left, trying to wrap her head around the current events of her life.

"Neither can I." she said. "What I can't believe is that he has a _girlfriend_! No, I can't believe his girlfriend is that girl in the sweatshirt we see every morning!"

Quinn gave her a pity look as Rachel shook her head. Just her luck; she meets the guy of her dreams, and then finds out he had a serious girlfriend who's too hot for her own good.

"Maybe they aren't serious." Quinn said, and Rachel wondered if she can read her mind. It wouldn't surprise her if she can. She shook her head at Quinn, knowing that that wasn't true.

"No, they're definitely serious. That girl has been coming here for _months _every morning in the same sweatshirt that was obviously a man's. That means that they've been living together all that time, which means they must have been together for months before they started living together, meaning they would have been going out for over a year now. You know that sapphire necklace she's always wearing when she comes in? I bet that was from him; she's only been wearing it for the past couple of months; it must have been an anniversary gift or something." Rachel pointed out, and Quinn bit her lip again. She knew she was right; there was no use saying different. It all added up together too well to think differently.

'I'm sorry, Rachel. I know you really liked him." She said, really meaning it. Rachel ran her hands through her hair, thinking everything over again.

"Quinn, how does this story play out?" she asked quietly. Quinn pressed her lips together, knowing that the ending wouldn't be a happy one like the others. Rachel waited impatiently for her to begin.

"There's this man who's in his twenties who lives with his gorgeous girlfriend who he's been dating for more than a year now. Down the street from where he lives is a Dunkin' Donuts, where he goes every morning to pick up breakfast. The woman behind the counter, the pretty, brunette Dunkin' Donuts girl, flirts with him, and he finds her attractive, always coming back every day so he can talk to her. One day, when handing him his brown bag with his breakfast inside of it, he finds her cell phone number on the bag, and calls her the next day. From there, they start having a secret affair, and one day, the girlfriend comes home from work early to find them in the bed. The couple fights, the Dunkin' Donuts girl doesn't hear anything from him for days, and then gets an e-mail from him, telling her that he loved her, but was in love with his girlfriend. The Dunkin' Donuts girl is heartbroken, the man and his girlfriend make up, and _they're _the ones who end up getting married."

"So the Dunkin' Donuts girl ends up alone, just like how she started?" Rachel asks after a long, painful silence. Her throat was really dry, and she really needed some water.

"I'm so sorry, Rachel." Quinn tells her again. "Don't be that Dunkin' Donuts girl."

"That Dunkin' Donuts girl was a slut." Rachel says her lips hardly moving. Quinn nods her head at her, trying to read her expression. She couldn't though; it was as hard as rock.

"Yes, I suppose she was, but can you really blame her? Even if he wasn't, she was in love with him, from the moment she met him. Can you really blame her for acting on her feelings? What would you have done if you were in her shoes?" Quinn asked, and Rachel eyed her. Surely Quinn didn't think Rachel would help Finn cheat on his girlfriend. Quinn knew her better than that; Rachel was better than that.

"I wouldn't have an affair with him, if that's what you're asking me. I would love him from afar; I would rather him be happy then ruin his happy relationship with his steady girlfriend." She said, and Quinn starred at her for a few moments in silence before speaking again.

"Are you going to do that?" she asked, and Rachel nodded at her. There was nothing else she could do, after all.

"Yes. Yes, I will." She said, not a quiver in her voice. Quinn knew she was telling the truth.

FSFSFSFS

He unlocked the door to the apartment, opening the door to see Santana sitting at the kitchen table with the blonde sitting opposite of her. Finn groaned in his mind when he saw her; Brittany. Brittany was Santana's best friend since high school; they had both been Cheerios together. She lived a few blocks away from Finn and Santana with her boyfriend, Artie. The two girls spent so much time together; Finn sometimes wondered who Santana was actually in a relationship with; Finn or Brittany.

Finn had nothing against Brittany personally; sure, the girl was kind of loony for his taste, but she was very sweet all the same. She was also a very good dancer, at least from what Finn had seen, and really hot. But the thing was, ever since Santana had been spending all her time at Finn's apartment, Brittany had too, and it got really annoying after a while. Like, when Finn wanted to spend some alone time with Santana or have sex during the daytime instead of always at night, Brittany would suddenly show up, and his plans went down the drain. He was sure Santana cared more about Brittany's feelings then she did about his.

"Oh, Finn you're back! It's about time; I'm starving." Santana said when she saw that he had come back. He sat down between Santana and Brittany, Santana reaching over to take her breakfast. Finn pulled out his own sandwich, taking it out of its wrapper. "Artie was working the early shift today, and Brittany was feeling lonely, so I invited her over."

"Are you hungry, Brittany?" Finn asked her, deciding that being a good host was the safest thing to do. Santana would snap at him later when Brittany left if he was rude to her now. He didn't know if they had any food to give Brittany though even if she was hungry.

"No thank you. I ate before I came." She said, and Finn nodded at her, grateful that he didn't have to get up again. He was soon left out of the conversation as Santana and Brittany started talking about a new chick flick that was playing in the movies, feeling like the third wheel again.

Finn let his mind move to the encounter he had with Rachel as the Dunkin' Donuts. _Rachel. _He liked saying her name; it had a grace about it that he found really pretty. Thinking about the word pretty made Finn realize how pretty Rachel was, and mesmerized. When he had first met Santana, she was anything but mesmerized, full of nothing but confidence. Rachel, on the other hand, could hardly speak when she first met him, looking at him as if he was an angel. He liked the way she looked at him; like he was the most amazing thing to ever walk the planet. Finn wondered why Santana never looked at him like that.


	3. And I Want Him so Bad

Brittany left an hour later to attend some dance classes, leaving Finn and Santana alone for the rest of the day. It was one of those rare days where both Finn and Santana got the day off from work, so they decided to just hang around the house and watch movies. Santana cuddled up to Finn on the sofa in front the TV, the opening credits starting.

"Brittany must feel so alone in that apartment by herself." She said, with her head on his chest. Finn was too busy watching the movie to actually answer her, only nodding his head. Honestly, Finn wasn't in the mood to talk about Brittany. "We should have her over more."

"We'll see." He murmured, thinking that was a terrible idea. Finn was seriously starting to wonder who was more important to Santana. "I just want to spend some alone time with you."

"That's what we're doing right now." She pointed out; he could hear the annoyance in her voice. Santana always had that tone with him these days.

"Do you think we can…?" Finn began to say, but Santana glared at him.

"Tonight we will." She promised, and Finn had to restrain himself from groaning again. They _always _did it at night, for once, Finn wanted to have sex during the day. You know, so he can actually _see _what he was doing, instead of fumbling around in the dark, trying to see the body in front of him.

He grumbles some more at her response, and could imagine Santana rolling her eyes at him. Finn wondered what this would be like when they were finally married; would she still be as stubborn as she is now. By the time the movie had ended, Finn knew what she was going to be like; Santana would be like this, but worse.

FRFRFRFR

Quinn followed Rachel into the quiet museum later that day, knowing that what they were doing was completely pathetic. What kind of person goes to a museum just to see a guy she hardly knows? It turns out; Rachel was that kind of person who did those kinds of things.

"Rachel, I don't think this is a good idea. Don't you think it's going to just a little bit suspicious if Finn sees you here again two days in a row?" Quinn said as Rachel quickly walked down one of the halls, her eyes moving to every security guard they passed. Rachel didn't even seem to hear what Quinn had said.

"I don't see him. Do you see him?" she asked urgently, turning the corner into another hall with paintings. Quinn sighed loudly as they passed another security guard who was leaning up against a wall. She swung Rachel around to face her by the arm; Rachel was still busy scanning the hall for Finn.

"This is ridiculous, and I don't think he's here today. We'll come back another day, okay? I have to get to work in fifteen minutes." She told Rachel, and Rachel bit her lip as she looked around one last time. It didn't make sense; she was sure that Finn worked here every day.

"Fine, we'll go." Rachel finally agreed, and with a sigh of relief, Quinn pulled her out of the museum by the arm. Rachel walked Quinn to the strip club where she worked during the evenings until she could find a better job. Quinn hated working there; it was full of disgusting men who wanted nothing but to see the girl in front of them be stripped of her identity. She had to hold back her expression of disgust whenever she was dancing. It was horrifying to have her naked body on display for all to see, no matter how much then men cheered. In fact, the cheering made her feel even more vulnerable.

"See you later tonight, okay?" Rachel said, grabbing her hand and wishing her good luck. Quinn smiled, wishing she didn't have to go in there. They said their last goodbyes and Quinn walked into the club. Rachel turned to walk away, quickly walking down the street; her lunch break was almost up and she couldn't be late to work again.

By the time Rachel had made it on the street where she worked, she was running and was having trouble breathing. Her boss would kill her if she missed one minute of her shift; he was already on her back about Quinn always hanging out there. Rachel pushed by men and women, hardly seeing the people pass her by, when she ran into a large person, making her fall onto her butt. Her eyes looked down at the man's feet, slowly went up to look at his long legs, then his stomach, and his face finally came into view. It was Finn.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! Let me help you up." Finn said, bending down to take Rachel's hand. She accepted it, liking the way her hand fit into his so perfectly, and then he pulled on her. Remembering where she was and who she was, Rachel stood up, trying to focus on the present situation. Now was not a time to get caught up in another Finn Fantasy.

"I'm fine, don't worry. Thanks Finn." She said, brushing the dirt off her jacket, and wishing she hadn't made such a big fool of herself. She probably looked like a bumbling idiot. Finn looked into her eyes, and gave her a smile.

"I keep running into you, don't I?" he asked playfully, and Rachel laughed. So she might not have seen him at the museum, but she was seeing him now, and that was all that mattered.

"I guess so." Rachel agreed, and she watched as Finn picked up the newspaper that was on the ground in front of his door.

"I had to get this." He says dumbly, holding the newspaper up for Rachel to see. He didn't know how to end this conversation without it being too awkward, and neither did Rachel.

"I see." Rachel said with another smile, and then glancing at her watch. Crap. "I'm sorry Finn, but I have to get back to work."

"Okay. See you around I guess." He said as she walked past him. Rachel turned her head to look at him one last time, waving at Finn, before letting her insides jump up and down as she walked into the Dunkin' Donuts.

FSFSFSFS

Someone was tugging on his arm again, and Finn tried to let free from her grasp. She held on tighter now, slowly pulling him out of the bed. He hit the floor with a loud thump, his head hitting the wood. Finn groaned as Santana shook his shoulder, urging him to wake up. He really felt the need to tell her to get lost, but thought better of it. That would only lead to another fight.

"Go get the breakfast, Finn!" Santana snapped at him, and Finn peaked up at her with annoyance.

"I thought that was just a onetime thing." He said, and Santana rolled her eyes at him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Ugh! Fine! I'll go!" she said, stomping her feet against the floor as she left the room and walked down the hall. He heard her grumbling all the way to the kitchen, and sighing loudly, Finn stood up and put on some jeans and a shirt. He followed Santana into the kitchen where she was putting on her flip flops.

"I'll go with you." He said as he put on his own shoes. Santana glanced up at him with a small smile, throwing an arm around his waist as they left the apartment.

FRFRFRFR

She saw them enter the front door of the room, and felt something inside her do a couple of flips. There he was, Finn Hudson, with his girlfriend; his beautiful girlfriend who was wearing her daily sweatshirt and necklace; her arm around his waist and his arm around her shoulders. They looked so happy together; Finn was looking down at her like she was one of the best things that ever existed. Rachel wished he would look at her like that, like she had all the answers. They stopped in front of the counter, Finn giving her a smile. Rachel literally had to hold back her tears.

"Hi Rachel." He said, and Rachel smiled at him. His girlfriend looked up at him in confusion, and then at Rachel, clearly lost.

"How do you know her?" the woman asked, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously. Finn laughed nervously.

"It's a bit complicated babe." Finn told her, scratching the back of his neck; his girlfriend was still glaring at him. Rachel felt something get caught in her throat when Finn called her babe, wishing that he was calling her that instead. "I met her at the museum, and then came by yesterday to get the breakfast and saw that she worked here. It's crazy, right?"

"It's very crazy." Rachel added, the woman not sparing her a look; her eyes were still on Finn. Rachel quickly turned around to start making their food, trying to pay attention to what she was doing and not to what Finn's girlfriend was whispering to him. After a few minutes, she turned back around to give them their order, and saw that they were now arguing in low whispers.

"Rachel, I think it's only right if I formally introduce you to my girlfriend, Santana. Santana, this is Rachel." Finn said, seeing that Rachel was watching them fight. Santana looked from Finn to Rachel, giving her a tight smile.

"It's nice to finally know your name, Santana." Rachel said politely, wanting very much for Finn's arm to be around her and not around Santana's. She hoped that Santana couldn't tell that from just looking at her face.

"The same goes for you. Where's your blonde friend that's always here today?" Santana asked, not seeming very happy to know Rachel's name. Rachel glanced at where Quinn would be standing with curious eyes if she were here, and then back at the couple.

"Oh, she had a rough night; Quinn's catching up on sleep." She said quickly, remembering when Quinn came home last night, her hair a complete mess and looking like she was going to collapse any second. She really needed to get another job. Santana and Finn nodded their heads in synch, and Rachel bit her lower lip as Santana gave her the money. As quickly as possible, Rachel gave her the change, and Santana pulled on Finn's arm as she turned around.

"Well, see you around Rachel." Finn said before following Santana out of the Dunkin' Donuts. Now that was something Rachel would never get tired of; hearing Finn say her name. Every time he said it, it was like a shock wave went through her body. It was a new feeling, and she really liked it. It was better than him calling her babe; much, much better.

FSFSFSFS

The walk back to Finn's apartment was tense with silence as Santana thought about what had happened in the Dunkin' Donuts. Every morning, Santana would see that Rachel girl behind the counter, but she never thought that much of her. Rachel wasn't very pretty, and she was working at a place that constantly smelled too much like coffee, so she didn't seem like anything worth Santana's attention. But Finn looked more excited to see Rachel then he did when they were about to have sex, and as far as Santana can tell, guys were supposed to think sex was the greatest thing, not seeing some girl he hardly knew.

"Are you okay, Santana? You've been rather quiet." Finn asked when they were back at his apartment, eating their food without speaking. Santana glanced up at him over her sandwich, figuring the best way to get an answer out of him was to just blurt out what she was thinking.

"How come you didn't tell me about that Rachel girl?" she asked, and Finn choked a little on his food, having to take a large gulp of orange juice to swallow it down. He put his sandwich down, starring at Santana with wide eyes. Finn didn't know the answer to that himself; why didn't he tell her about Rachel? What was he keeping from her?

"I don't know; I guess it just didn't pass my mind to tell you." He answered honestly, thinking about Rachel again. She looked particularly pretty today behind that counter.

"Did _she _pass your mind?" Santana pushed, wanting to know if Rachel had at least been on his mind. If he said no, she would know he was lying; the way he was looking at her laid the entire truth out onto the table. Finn was quiet for a few moments before answering, feeling more uncomfortable than usual.

"Well, when I see her it passes my mind." He said, taking another bite of his sandwich. He really wanted to drop this topic and move on. Santana, on the other hand, seemed to find this subject very interesting.

"But do you think about her ever when you don't see her?" she asked, starting to get frustrated with Finn. Trying to get a straight answer out of Finn was like trying to pull a white rabbit out of a top hat; impossible.

"No." Finn said too quickly, Santana's beady eyes narrowing at him. He shifted in his seat, trying to think of an excuse to leave the table. "Why is it so important to you anyway?"

"It's important because I'm worried that my _boyfriend _is falling for another girl; another girl who works at the Dunkin' Donuts, in fact." Santana snapped at him, and Finn let his eyes roll freely. Who cared if Santana saw it this time; she was already pissed at him.

"You're making a big deal out of nothing." He told her, but knowing that deep down, Santana was half right. He did feel something for Rachel, but he was determined to keep those thoughts out of his mind. Santana scoffed at him.

"Are you sure I shouldn't be making a big deal out of this? You have no feelings for that girl?" she asked, wanting to know for sure of Finn's feelings. Finn took another bite of his food, put it on the table, and reached for Santana's hand, grasping it tightly. It comforted Santana a little, but she was still so unsure.

"You are the only girl I have feelings for, Santana. I love you, and you have nothing to worry about." Finn said slowly, looking into her eyes. She almost believed his words, and the same went for Finn.

"I love you too." She whispered, and Finn almost believed her too.


	4. Not the Dunkin' Donuts Girl

**AN: The first three chapters were slower because I wanted to get the feeling and the setting of the story across first. Things should start speeding up now. **

The alarm clock went off, and Finn quickly shut it off; he was so sick of that thing, but at least this time it wasn't Santana waking him up. He could hear voices down the hall, and recognized Santana's sympathetic one. Brittany answered back, they both laughed about something, and then Finn heard Santana offer her some more coffee. Santana sounded like she was having more fun with Brittany then she ever did when she was with him. Slowly, Finn put on a pair of shorts, and went into the kitchen shirtless; Brittany wouldn't be paying attention to him anyway.

"You couldn't have coffee at your own place?" Finn asked rudely when he came in, sparing the two of them a glance before reaching for the coffee mug. He could feel Santana's glaring eyes on him. Brittany didn't seem to hear the rudeness though.

"Artie had to work early again, and I don't know how to make coffee." She said, and Finn had to hold back a laugh. Of course Brittany didn't know how to make coffee; what did she know? He turned around to face them, Santana patting Brittany's hand affectionately. She did that a lot.

"It's okay B. You're invited here whenever you want." Santana said sympathetically, and Finn raised his eyebrows as he took a sip of his coffee. It was his apartment, and technically Santana wasn't even living there, but she was allowed to invite her best friends over whenever she wanted to.

"Thanks Santana, you're such a good friend." Brittany said affectionately, giving Santana a glowing look. Santana returned it, and once again, Finn wondered who Santana was in a relationship with. He actually felt like he was ruining an intimate moment.

"It's no problem, I do love you." Finn's girlfriend answered. He practically choked on his coffee when she said that; Santana told Brittany she loved her with much more affection then when she told Finn. Maybe Santana should sleep around at Brittany's apartment; Artie worked so many hours, he probably wouldn't even notice. Suddenly, Santana remembered that Finn was there, letting go of Brittany's hand and clearing her throat. "Go get the breakfast, Finn."

"Are you serious? Why can't you go?" he asked, his jaw dropping. Since when did picking up breakfast at Dunkin's Donuts become his thing? Why was Santana all of a sudden into the idea of him spending his money for her breakfast?

"Finn, we aren't arguing about this. Go get the food now." Santana said in a hard voice, and not wanting to start a fight, Finn sighed loudly and went back to his bedroom. He threw on the first shirt that he can find, and came back out to the kitchen, putting his shoes on.

"I'm going, I'm going." He said as he closed the front door behind him. Finn found that there was at least one good thing about going to Dunkin' Donuts today; Rachel would be there, and for some odd reason, seeing Rachel made him very happy.

"Good morning, Rachel." He said cheerfully as he walked in, seeing Rachel behind the counter and Quinn on the other side. Rachel turned to where he had come in, and gave him a wide smile when she saw who it was. Quinn's eyes flashed from Finn's, to Rachel's, with a grin on her face. "Hello Quinn."

"Hey Finn, did you sleep well?" Quinn asked, and Finn tried to keep his eyes on Quinn, but they kept turning to Rachel. He had to remind himself to focus.

"I slept okay, what about you? Rachel said you had a hard night the other night." He responded, and Quinn quickly glanced at Rachel, looking suddenly nervous.

"Oh! Yeah, I guess I just had a rough night or something. Nothing to worry about." She said, not meeting Finn's eyes. He was finally able to turn to Rachel, who was still smiling at him.

"Where's Santana today?" she asked, looking behind Finn to make sure there was no one else there. Finn scratched his forehead for a second before answering.

"She's with a friend back at my apartment." He said, and Rachel and Quinn nodded at this information. Something about the way Finn answered the question was bugging Quinn, so she decided to just be straight forward about it.

"You said it's your apartment, as in only you live there? Don't you share it with Santana?" she asked, hoping Finn wouldn't think that was too personal of a question, only asking it because she knew Rachel would want to know this important piece of information. Fortunately, Finn didn't think it was too personal of a question, and answered it honestly.

"No, she doesn't, she just likes to sleepover." He said, and Rachel raised an eyebrow at him. Finn knew it must have sounded weird out loud.

"She sleeps over every night?" Rachel asked, and Finn bit his bottom lip. Realizing that she might have passed a certain line, Rachel shook her head at him. "I'm sorry, that was too personal. Just let me make your food and then you can get out of here!"

Rachel moved around behind the counter, making the sandwiches, trying to hear what Quinn was saying to Finn. When she turned back around to give him the bag full of food, she could clearly hear what the two of them were talking about.

"Yeah, we've been together for a year and three months now." Finn was saying, and Quinn smiled at him. Rachel gulped; it felt like something was stuck in her throat again.

"You must be planning on marrying her one day; you talk about her as if you will." Quinn said, her chin resting on her hand. Finn looked very uncomfortable at this question; if someone had said the same thing to him a week before, he would have agreed, but now he wasn't so sure.

"Maybe." Was all he said, and sighing out of relief, Rachel handed him his order. Finn directed his attention back to Rachel, smiling as he gave her the cash. "Thanks Rachel. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." She agreed, while giving Finn his change and watching him leave the Dunkin' Donuts. Quinn turned to Rachel once he had left, but Rachel was still gazing at the front door, dazing off.

"I guess that means he'll be picking up the breakfast from now on." Quinn stated, a smirk playing on her lips. Rachel smiled at the thought, another customer coming up to the counter. She made them their order, gave them their change, and then turned back to Quinn.

"I hope so. Do you think he likes me?" she asked, not able to keep it in any longer. Rachel had to know if he felt the way she felt about him, even if he did have a girlfriend that was much more beautiful than her. Quinn smiled at her for only a moment, something hiding in her eyes.

"I think he might." She said softly, but she suddenly became more serious. "Rachel, he has a girlfriend, who he is clearly in love with. Don't let this little crush you have on him go too far; you're only going to get hurt."

"If he loves Santana so much then why is he giving me those looks whenever he sees me?" Rachel asked Quinn, playing with the charm bracelet on her arm, smiling. She couldn't help the feeling she got whenever Finn was around; it was like the sun was suddenly shining whenever she saw him. It was like everything suddenly became so much better; she had never felt that way about another boy. It looked like Quinn wasn't as excited as she was though.

"Rachel, I told you to _not _be that Dunkin' Donuts girl. This is how it starts. Remember that story I told you?" she said seriously, and Rachel sighed in frustration. She had a feeling her story wasn't going to be anything like that Dunkin' Donuts girl's story was.

"What if my story with Finn will end differently from the story about the Dunkin' Donuts girl? What if I get the guy in the end?" Rachel asked. It could happen, right? There was no harm in hoping for the best, and even if there was, there was nothing Rachel could do about it. She didn't control who she fell for, even if they were in a serious relationship.

"Why take the chance? I don't think it's worth it. You could hurt a lot of people and ruin a lot of lives this way, even if you do get the guy. You need to think about Santana's feelings before you get caught up in your own." Quinn warned, wishing her friend could understand the seriousness of the situation at hand. But Rachel still had the dreamy look on her face, that look that clearly said that she thought she was getting her fairytale ending. "And you hardly know him."

"What about how I feel about all of this? Doesn't my opinion matter anymore? I've been through a lot recently, with Jessie and all; don't I deserve to be happy now?" Rachel said in a louder voice then intended. She tried to control her temper, but Quinn was getting on her nerves. Why couldn't she see the story from her side?

"Being a side dish for a guy who has a steady girlfriend will _not _make you happy. It will only leave you feeling unwanted, unloved, and lonely." Her friend told her, and Rachel breathed slowly for a moment. Okay, so she was getting a little too excited about all of this. Quinn was right; she hardly knew Finn, and it would be wrong to try anything on him while he had a girlfriend.

"I guess you're right." She said in quiet voice, studying the charms on her bracelet. Relieved, Quinn smiled at her, patting her hand sympathetically.

"There's a guy out there for you, Rachel, and until you find him, you just have to hold on. You can't chase after men that are already taken." Quinn said, holding Rachel's hand. She squeezed her hand, but Rachel didn't squeeze back. She was still looking at her bracelet, very sulky now.

"I know, I know. I'll just wait until my feelings for Finn fade away." She said, and Quinn squeezed her hand one last time before leaving.

FSFSFSFS

It looked like Brittany had stuck around Finn's apartment the entire time she wasn't teaching dance classes, because when he came home from the museum, she and Santana were curled up together on the sofa watching TV. Santana hardly acknowledged his presence, whispering something in Brittany's ear, making her laugh. Finn felt like they were excluding him from some sort of high school clique. He wondered why Santana never seemed excited to see him, even when they first started going out. He realized Rachel always looked excited when seeing him.

Finn and Santana hardly talked at dinner after Brittany left, Finn mostly just moving the Chinese food around on his plate. He didn't have an appetite for some reason; something felt really wrong that day. He felt like there was something about the apartment that felt different, as if something had shifted. Santana hardly met his eyes at dinner, finding her meal to be very interesting. The atmosphere felt different too, like there was a new feeling in it or something. Finn didn't like that feeling at all; he didn't know what it was, but it sure did scare him.

That night, when he and Santana went to bed, the weirdest thing happened; they didn't have sex. Santana stayed on her side of the bed, her back facing him, falling right to sleep. Finn didn't mind, for a reason he didn't seem to know, he wasn't in the mood for sex either. Or was it that he just wasn't in the mood for sex with Santana? He wondered if it made any difference either way as he drifted into a light sleep.

FRFRFRFR

Finn found himself getting up before the alarm clock even went off. Rubbing at his eyes, he sat up in bed, looking down at Santana who was still sound sleep. Her black hair covered her peaceful face, and unlike all the other days, Finn didn't run his hands through it. Something still felt wrong, and he wondered when it would stop being like that.

Surprising himself, Finn quickly got dressed and found that he was walking out of the apartment to go to Dunkin' Donuts. He didn't know what came over him to make the daily stop without Santana having to pull him out of bed and forcing him to go; he just felt like going today. The Dunkin' Donuts was quiet when he entered, seeing that Rachel was behind the counter, cleaning it over with a paper towel. He noticed that Quinn wasn't there.

"Did Quinn have another hard night?" he asked as he walked up to the counter, scaring Rachel. She dropped the paper towel, and put her hand to her heart. Rachel quickly recovered, threw the paper towel away, and cleared her throat, meeting Finn's eyes.

"Yeah, she has a lot of those." Rachel said, folding her hands on the counter. Finn noticed that Rachel was acting differently today; she seemed stiffer today, and didn't look into his eyes for longer than a moment. Finn didn't know Rachel too well, but he had realized now that she was a very happy person, and she didn't seem that way today.

"Are you okay? You're acting very strange today." Finn asked, eyeing her. Rachel cleared her throat, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm fine." She assured him, but Finn still didn't believe her. Rachel was still acting way too formal.

"You're acting really mature or something, and you don't seem as perky as you usually are. I know we haven't known each other for very long, but it kind of worries me. I like your usual happy self." Finn told her, and at hearing these words, Rachel's face suddenly became brighter, the usual glisten in her eyes coming back. Finn liked how her eyes glistened; it was like seeing two stars.

"Let me get you your food!" Rachel said, using a cheerful tone. She seemed back to normal now. Finn watched as she moved around behind the counter, putting things in and out of the oven. He liked how quickly she worked, but still giving everything very good attention. Finn had never met a girl like Rachel before; she was a nice person to have around you.

"Here you are. That'll cost-", but before Rachel could finish talking, Finn had already pushed the money into her hands, giving her a big smile. He tried not to notice how soft Rachel's hands were.

"I know. Keep the change." Finn told her, still smiling. Rachel gave him a light smile back, her hand still open with the money in it. Finn spared her one more smile before leaving the Dunkin' Donuts, something warming up his stomach.

FPFPFPFP

He was in the back room of the museum for a short break where there were a couple of lockers for the security guards and an old, ripped up sofa. Finn sat on the old cushions, sipping at his coffee when another security guard walked in. He turned around to see that it was Noah Puckerman, better known as Puck, a security guard who had a killer mohawk and was the same age as Finn. Finn wasn't really friends with Puck, but he was closer with him then he was with anyone else who worked at the museum. Puck sat down next to him, lighting a cigarette and blowing on it. Finn turned his head the other way so as to not breathe in the smoke; he once got caught up in the habit of smoking back in high school, and swore to never go back. Puck wasn't making it an easy task.

"So, what are you doing Friday night?" Puck asked, blowing out some more smoke. Finn tried to turn his head in Puck's direction without actually turning in his direction; he didn't want to be rude.

"I'll probably just stay home with Santana." He answered, thinking that Santana would no doubt be doing something with Brittany. Finn thought that Artie had to stop working so many hours, and start spending some more time with his girlfriend.

"Some of the other security guards and I are going to a bar I heard about on Friday. If you and Santana would like to come, that would be cool." He said. Puck had never met Santana before; she refused to come into the museum, but he had heard Finn talk about her often. Finn thought it was nice of Finn to invite him out, especially since he had never been very nice to Puck, but he didn't think Santana would want to spend the night with a bunch of losers that Finn worked with.

"Thanks man, I'll ask her." Finn said, and Puck smiled, briefly patting Fin on the shoulder before stamping out his cigarette.

"Cool." He said, and then left Finn alone in the dirty room.

FSFSFSFS

Santana was taking one of the onions off her pizza when Finn brought up Puck's invitation from earlier that day. He didn't realize until later that he had interrupted her complaints about the photo store she worked at. She looked up from her pizza, the onion in her hand, and an eyebrow up.

"Why would I want to spend my Friday night with a bunch of bad smelling men?" she asked in a disgusted voice, throwing the onion on a napkin. Since when did she not like onions? Santana had always liked onions.

"Oh come on, they don't _all_ smell that bad." Finn said, but Santana just snorted at him. Okay, so a couple of the older men smelled just a _little _like dirty socks, but he wasn't even sure if they were going to be there.

"It doesn't matter, I'm still not going out." She said, taking a bite of the pizza once it was clean of onions. Finn looked down at his pizza, knowing that Santana wouldn't change her mind no matter what he said.

"But _I _really want to go." He said in a pleading tone, but Santana didn't even look up at him. Couldn't she see that this meant a lot to Finn? He didn't really have a lot of guy friends and he never seemed to go out unless it was with Santana.

"Then you can go, but I'm not." Santana stated, and there was no changing her mind at that point. Finn sighed loudly, trying to think of what to do. He knew he couldn't go alone; a lot of the guys had girlfriends, and they would be bringing them along. As girly as it might have sounded, Finn didn't want to be the only one there who was alone; he at least wanted someone by his side. He didn't know what he was going to do.

FRFRFRFR

Just as the alarm clock went off after another night of no sex, Finn quickly turned it off and got dressed. Once again, Santana was still sleeping when Finn left the apartment to go to Dunkin' Donuts. And there was Rachel standing with Quinn, talking excitedly about something. She immediately saw Finn come in, and smiled and waved at him. Quinn turned around to look at him, smiling as well. Finn walked up to her, scratching his nose.

"Good morning Finn." Rachel said with one of her perfect smiles, Finn couldn't help but smile back.

"Morning Rachel, Quinn." He responded, nodding his head at Quinn, who gave him another smile. He liked how much these two girls liked him. "You look nice today, Rachel."

And she did; her hair was up in a pretty ponytail, her bangs falling right above her eyes. She was wearing these sparkling, silver earrings, and there was this color about her lips that Finn hadn't noticed until now. He couldn't stop starring at those lips and that color.

"Thank you." She said simply while blushing, before getting to work on his food. Finn had an idea, but he didn't know if it would work, or if Rachel would go along with it. After all, it wasn't like he had any friends that were girls, and it wouldn't hurt to ask. Right…?

"Here you are." Rachel said, handing him the bag, and Finn decided at that moment to just wing it.

"Say Rachel, a couple of guys I work with are going to this bar on Friday night and Santana doesn't want to go. Would you be interested in coming? As my friend, I mean." Finn asked, biting his lower lip. He watched as Rachel starred at him for a moment, glancing at Quinn, and then turning back to him.

"Okay." She said brightly, smiling nervously up at him. Finn was so relieved to hear her accept the invitation that he didn't know how to answer for a moment. Both Rachel and Quinn gave him big smiles though.

"Okay? Really?" he asked, being a little excited about the idea of hanging out with Rachel. He could tell that Rachel was one of those rare people who didn't mind hanging out with some people she didn't even know.

"Yeah!" Rachel said, not even bothering to hide how happy she was. Finn looked just as happy as her anyways.

"Great! So, do you want to meet here at around seven?" he asked, and Rachel nodded fervently, as did Quinn.

"That sounds great." She said, and Finn returned her grin.

"Yep, that's great."


	5. Dear Lord, He Hung the Moon

Quinn turned quickly to look at Rachel once Finn had left, with a blazing expression on her face. Rachel still couldn't digest this news; Finn invited her out on a Friday night. She was the first person Finn had went to after his own girlfriend couldn't, even though they had only known each other for a week now. That must have meant something, right? That meant he kind of liked her, right? Rachel wasn't too sure what it meant; only that she really liked it.

"You have to be careful about this, Rachel." She warned, looking very worried. Rachel wanted to brush her hand in the air and tell Quinn that she didn't have anything to worry about, but she knew that would be a lie. Yeah, Quinn did have something to worry about. "You can't go past the "friends" line."

"I know thanks. Why don't you trust me?" she asked. Rachel was a very trustworthy person; she knew how to control herself in heated situations and how to restrain her unresolved and unreturned feelings. Quinn knew that.

"I trust you; I just don't trust you when you're drunk." Quinn told her and Rachel roller her eyes at her. Quinn always had said that when Rachel drank, she got really drunk. Like, she got so drunk, Rachel would start clinging onto random people, asking for a one night stand. It kind of made guys _not _want to take her up on her one night stand offer.

"Please, I'm not that bad." Rachel said as another customer stepped up to her. She quickly made their food, and Quinn went on as the satisfied customer took a seat in the far corner of the Dunkin' Donuts.

"Do I have to remind you what happened to you at that one New Year's Eve party in college?" Quinn asked, raising her eyebrows. Okay, so yeah, maybe Rachel got a little out of hand with the drinks, and might have puked all over Quinn's college boyfriend, Sam Evans, but it wasn't like she did it on purpose. And it wasn't like Sam broke up with Quinn because of _that_.

"It was only a little vomit." Rachel said in a quiet voice, wishing that Quinn hadn't brought it up. Quinn snorted at her words.

"Might I add you covered him in your vomit _while _flirting with him?" she said, and Rachel bowed her head a little. Sam was cute, okay, and Rachel was lonely that night. Plus, she was drunk, so she didn't really know what she was doing.

"Look, I won't drink that much, okay? I'll keep it light." Rachel told her as another customer walked up. Quinn sighed loudly, already imagining the trouble Rachel could get herself into.

FRFRFRFR

The next few days went by quickly, and before Rachel knew it, she was standing outside the Dunkin' Donuts, waiting for Finn. She looked down at her watch, seeing that it was 7:05, and wondered where Finn could be. He didn't live that far away, so it wasn't traffic or anything. Rachel had decided to go casual yet dressy for the night out, so it didn't look like she had tried too hard when she totally did. She was wearing something Quinn had picked out for her, saying how Rachel needed to be saved from her wardrobe, at least for the night. She was dressed in dark blue, skinny jeans with high heel, black boots, and a glittery red top. It was still fashionable, but still had a bit of that Rachel Berry signature shining through; Rachel hoped Finn didn't find it too party like. The top might have been a bit too much.

"You look nice!" Finn said in greeting, walking down the sidewalk to where Rachel stood. He was dressed pretty casually in black pants and a light blue t-shirt, but he still looked absolutely perfect to Rachel. There was just something about Finn that always made him look so good.

"Thanks, you too." She said, meaning every word. Finn smiled at her, his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry I'm late. Santana was holding me up." He told her, and Rachel only nodded at him, happy that he was here now. Besides, it wasn't like he was that late.

"It's no problem. I just got here." She said, and Finn gestured to the sidewalk in front of them.

"It's only a couple of blocks away; we can walk there." Finn said, and Rachel walked next to him as they started to walk. She pushed through people, not really able to talk to Finn, but that was okay because they would have lots of time to talk once they got to the bar.

"So why didn't Santana want to go?" Rachel asked as they crossed a street, once she was able to hear herself think again. Finn kept walking, biting his lip, and looking at the street signs.

"She was spending some time with her friend, Brittany." He said, and Rachel nodded again. She didn't understand how Santana would miss out on a bar date with her boyfriend for some time with a friend. Rachel would never let time with Finn pass her by. They walked down a couple of more blocks before they finally stopped in front of a small building with glowing lights and people streaming in and out.

"I heard this place was good, but I didn't think it would be this busy." Finn shouted over the people, looking down at Rachel. Even with heels on, Rachel only came up to Finn's collarbone. It was like she was talking to a giant; Rachel kind of liked it.

"I hope we find your friends." She responded, and Finn shrugged his shoulders as he led the way into the bar. Inside, Rachel had to make sure to stay close to Finn. Spread throughout the room was loveseats where couples sat, and in the middle of the bar was a small dance floor accompanied by some brave single women. A dim light overlooked the bar, giving the place a mysterious look. Rachel followed Finn towards the bar to the side, walking towards a specific group of men. Finn tapped a man with a mohawk on the back, the man turning around to see who it was.

"Finn, so glad you can come!" said the man, a smile spread across his face. He looked from Finn to Rachel, the smile growing even bigger. "This must be Santana, your girlfriend."

"Oh, I'm not Santana!" Rachel said quickly as both she and Finn blushed, and the guy gave her a smirk. "I'm just a friend."

"Oh, you're just a friend are you?" the mohawk man asked, giving Finn a look. Finn ignored the way he was looking at him, clearing his throat.

"Rachel, this is Puck. Puck, this is Rachel. Puck's another security guard at the museum." Finn explained, and Rachel put her hand out for Puck to shake. She thought that Puck must not have been his real name, but only a nickname.

"It's nice to meet you." She said politely, and Puck starred at her for moment, before turning back to Finn.

"You've got a hot friend, dude. Have you noticed?" Puck asked, and Rachel's face went an even deeper shade of red. Finn's did too, scratching the back of his neck.

"We're going to go sit down." He said rather loudly, and Rachel let Finn lead her to two empty seats at the bar. Puck smirked at them as they went. Rachel took a seat next to a man in zebra pants and a purple sweater, talking to a man with thick eyebrows and dark hair. Finn rubbed his legs nervously as he sat down next to Rachel, the bartender coming up to him. Rachel was taking out her wallet, when Finn put his hand on hers, stopping both her heart and her quest to pay for her own drink.

"I got this one." He said with a smile, and Rachel returned it. She hardly heard what Finn was saying to the bartender; too busy staring at how his lips moved when he talked. His hand was still on hers, suddenly pulling away.

"You didn't have to do that." She said as the bartender walked away. Finn shook his head at her.

"No, I wanted to. I was the one who invited you." He said, and Rachel only had a short moment to appreciate Finn's smile before the two men she was sitting next to turned around to face them.

"Hi Finn!" the man with the dark hair said, smiling at Finn. Finn waved at him for a moment with a blank stare, before he remembered who this guy was.

"Hey Blaine, I heard you were bringing Kurt with you." Finn said, and the boy in the zebra pants smiled brightly.

"That would be me!" he said, and the man named Blaine smiled, ruffling Kurt's hair. Kurt gave him an annoyed look when he did, immediately fixing his hair.

"Blaine, I told you _not _to do that!" Kurt said, and Blaine laughed. Finn and Rachel smiled at how cute they were.

"This is my boyfriend, Kurt, if it wasn't obvious." Blaine said, and after he had fixed his hair, Kurt flashed them another smile.

"It was. I have two gay dads, you know." Rachel said, and Finn looked down at her with a curious expression. Rachel was always nervous about telling people that she had two dads; she never knew how people would react with. She had a fear that Finn would stop talking to her after she told him, but he only seemed more interested in her.

"Really? That's awesome!" he said, and Rachel gave him a smile of relief, forgetting that Kurt and Blaine were there. They had already started talking between the two of them again anyway.

"You think? Some people think I'm weird because of it." Rachel said, looking down at her folded hands. As she said it, the bartended came back with their drinks. She still didn't know exactly what was in it, but she took a big gulp, needing a confidence booster if she wanted to keep impressing Finn.

"You're thirsty." Finn noted, and Rachel nodded at him as she took another sip. It tasted unusual, and she made a weird expression as she drank it. That made Finn laugh, and Rachel decided to take another sip so she can see Finn laugh again.

"This is good." She said, finishing her glass. Finn looked down at the empty glass; he was still holding a full one.

"I'll get you another then." He said, and flagged down the bartender. Rachel tapped her fingers against the bar anxiously as the bartender came back with another glass of whatever it was she was drinking. She decided to down it, trying to remember what Quinn had warned her about before she left. What was it again; something about making sure to not drink too much? The memory was fuzzy, and she didn't know if Quinn had said that or if she said to have fun and to drink a lot.

"You should be careful there." Finn warned after a few more glasses, but Rachel waved her hand in the air at him like it was no big deal. She knew what she was doing; she had everything under control. Rachel wasn't sure how many drinks Finn had, but he was holding one that looked like he hadn't even taken a sip at. Rachel wondered what he was waiting for.

"Aren't you going to drink any?" Rachel asked, her words slurring a little. Finn looked down at his drink as if he had just remembered it was there, and gulped some of it down.

"I guess I just forgot about it." He said with a shaky laugh, taking another sip. Rachel gave him a curious look as she struggled to bring the cup up to her lips properly.

"Why's that?" she asked, putting the glass back down, and putting her chin in her hand. Rachel twirled one of her loose curls around her pointer finger, gazing up at Finn. He looked embarrassed at her question.

"I guess I was just distracted." He mumbled, and if Rachel wasn't so close to him, she wouldn't have heard him at all. Rachel's mind started to whirl around too much to make sense of what Finn had just said, but she can clearly hear what Blaine and Kurt were saying.

"Come on, Blaine; dance with me!" Kurt said louder than needed, obviously as drunk as Rachel felt. Rachel giggled as she heard Blaine refuse, looking at Finn who was looking into his drink as if there was something in there that shouldn't have been. He looked so adorable while doing so.

"I'll dance with you, Kurt!" Rachel said cheerfully, grabbing Kurt's hand and dragging him to the dance floor. Even though the music wasn't very loud or very fast, the two of them danced as if they were in some sort of dance club, getting a few weird looks. Finn thought he had never met someone so unique and different then Rachel.

"Aren't our significant others great…you know, in their own way?" Finn heard Blaine ask, but Finn couldn't respond. He was too busy starring at Rachel with this big smile on while she looked like she was having the time of her life. After a beautiful second, what Blaine had said registered in his mind, and Finn immediately corrected him.

"Oh no, Rachel's not my girlfriend, she's just…" but the rest of Finn's words drifted off, and he went right back to gazing at Rachel. She looked too perfect and beautiful for words, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Finn couldn't even remember who was at his apartment right now? He didn't drink that much. Did he? Well, not as much as Rachel.

"The way you're looking at her tells me different." Blaine acknowledged, and before Finn could respond to his too true words, Rachel was jumping towards him, tugging on Finn's hand.

"Finny! Dance with me!" Rachel yelled, still tugging on his arm with a big grin. Finn had never heard that nickname before, and was sure that if anyone else was using it, he wouldn't have like it. He wasn't a good dancer, he was the worst he knew, but Rachel kept pulling on him with that gorgeous smile, and Finn just couldn't say no. He only hoped Rachel didn't notice how terrible of a dancer he was.

She jumped all over the dance floor, her hair whipping around. Finn mostly stood there, shifting his feat, and gazing down at Rachel. Whenever he went to a bar with Santana, she would always dance purposely seductively, almost as if she had someone to impress. Finn was blown away with how much different Rachel was compared to Santana; she didn't seem to care if people were looking at her as if she was an alien form outer space; she just threw herself around and enjoyed what she was doing right now at that moment. Santana always acted like the moment wasn't good enough for her.

"You're a great dancer, Finn!" Rachel shouted at him, and Finn laughed. Yeah, she was definitely drunk.

"Do you want to sit down?" Finn asked, trying to regain Rachel's attention my taking hold of her arm lightly. Rachel stopped dancing and looked down at the skin to skin contact with wide eyes; she gulped when she met Finn's eyes.

"Okay." She whispered, and let Finn walk her over to one of the empty loveseats in the corner of the bar. It was quieter over here, and candles were lit on tables. Rachel plopped herself down on the comfy sofa, sitting Indian style while facing Finn as he did the same, their knees just touching. Rachel can already tell that she was going to enjoy whatever was going to happen next.

FRFRFRFR

"So you came to New York to get away from Lima?" Rachel asked her head close to Finn's. He nodded, smiling a little as he could smell her breathe. It smelled like tropical fruit; Finn had always liked tropical fruit.

"I didn't want to be a Lima Loser like all the other guys in my high school class." He explained. Finn had practically told Rachel his entire childhood story, starting from when his dad died to when he graduated from college. "I thought that if I came to New York, what I would want to do with my life would suddenly become clear. But it didn't so I'm just a security guard at some boring museum for the time being."

"I understand. I came to New York in hopes of making it on Broadway." Rachel said, and Finn rose an impressive eyebrow up at her. He should have figured that someone as special as Rachel be as talented as a Broadway actress. "But I don't think it's going to work out."

"Why do you think that?" Finn asked with a concerned tone, moving just a little bit closer. Rachel didn't seem to notice, and Finn was glad that they were closer. It felt nice to be able to inhale the scent that was Rachel Berry.

"Because I auditioned for, like, a billion shows; on and off Broadway, and only got demoted to extra." She explained, sighing in defeat. Finn bit his lip as he looked at her lost expression. It seemed to him that Rachel had lost all hope in her dreams, and he found himself desperately wanting to reassure her.

"I'm sure you'll get your big break soon. You just have to keep trying. I'd love to hear you sing." He told her, and Rachel gave him a shy smile, going a little red at his words. A lot of people had told her that; her dads, Quinn, a few ex-boyfriends, but it felt different coming out of Finn's mouth. It felt so much nicer when he said it. And Rachel couldn't stop staring at him as he did.

"I'll have to let you hear me one day, then. I have a remarkable voice, you know." Rachel said, looking deep into Finn's eyes. His mouth was slightly open, and he looked at her as if she had hung the moon. Rachel only knew this because she was giving Finn the same look in return.

"I completely believe it." He breathed out, and Rachel closed her eyes for a moment, trying to think straight. It didn't work, and she opened her eyes to stare at Finn a little more. How many hours had she been at this bar? Rachel glanced back at where the rest of the security guards had been at, and realized that they had all gone home. What time was it exactly?

"Can I be honest with you, Finn?" She asked, her gaze shaking a little. Finn nodded fervently, biting on his lip anxiously. "I really, _really _like you."

Rachel didn't know where those words had come from; she was sure it was the alcohol speaking. But Finn had already opened his mouth to answer, but no words were coming out.

"I like you too, Rachel." He whispered back, and then their noses and foreheads were pressing against each other's, and Rachel could feel her hear beat quicken. His breathe mixed with hers, and Finn's lips were _so close _to hers. The moment was there, and the moment was now, and Rachel wanted to live in that moment _so badly_. All she had to do was lean in just a _little bit more_, and their lips would meet. That was all Rachel had to; that was it.

"I should get you home." Finn suddenly whispered to her lips, and the moment was broken. The magic was gone, and Rachel slowly pulled away from him, trying to figure out what had just happened. That wasn't supposed to happen, she told Quinn this wouldn't happen. What had just happened was _not _a friend thing to do; it had crossed that line. She told herself she wouldn't cross that line! Damnit! Rachel didn't want to be the Dunkin' Donuts girl!

"Yeah, it's late." Rachel agreed, glancing at her watch and seeing that it was midnight. She and Finn left the bar quietly, making sure to keep a safe distance between the two of them. It didn't take Finn long to realize that Rachel was shaky from the alcohol, and needed someone to support her as she walked. He put his arm around her waist, trying to ignore the fact that Rachel's red shirt had ridden up a little and that his arm was now touching some of the bare skin on her back.

Rachel stopped him at the steps of her apartment, detaching herself from him. Finn watched, unsure, as Rachel shifted from foot to foot, trying to regain her balance. Finn knew she was completely drunk, and he was feeling some of the effects of the drinks himself.

"Thanks for walking me home Finn. I had a good time." Rachel said, giving him a lazy smile. Finn smiled back at her, still admiring her even if she was drunk and probably didn't know what she was saying.

"No problem. Thanks for coming with me. It was fun." He said, and Rachel patted his shoulder, having to reach up as far as her arm would allow her to do so. She gazed into his eyes for a long moment, drowning in them, before pulling out the keys from her purse.

"You know, you can come in if you want to. Quinn's working tonight, and I don't think she'll be back to much later." Rachel heard herself saying, and Finn bit his lip in confliction. Rachel was drunk, but there were no rules that said he couldn't join her for some coffee or something, right? Friends did those kinds of things after all, and that's what they were.

"Sure. Why not?" he asked with a laugh and Rachel unlocked the door of her apartment, walking into the darkness. Finn followed unsurely in, a light switch flipping on and the small yet cozy apartment became clear. Rachel put her keys down on a small table next to the door, taking her shoes off and hanging her coat on a coat rack. She gestured for Finn to do the same, and he did so slowly, taking in his surroundings. By the time he did, Rachel had already walked down the hall and made a left into the living room, Finn following her. She turned on the light in that room too, falling onto the sofa and breathing loudly.

"I'm so tired." She said, and Finn sat down next her. Rachel sat up and turned a little to look at Finn, hardly aware of how close they really were. Not knowing if it was the right things to do but doing it anyways, Finn slowly put his hand on Rachel's thigh, all thoughts of being only friends leaving his mind. Who was Santana again? All he could focus was on Rachel and her eyes, Rachel and her lips, Rachel and the color of her cheeks. What was his name again?

And then her lips were on his, and they were kissing. And Finn couldn't remember anything; he only felt. He felt full, and open, and free, and amazed. He felt like he had found out this amazing secret about life that people had been keeping from him his entire life, he felt like he was singing, and dancing, and like everything became clear and invisible around him. He felt like his heart stopped, and he felt like his breathe stopped, and he felt like _he stopped thinking. _

One minute they were simply kissing, taking in these new feelings that they had never felt before, and the next, they were laying down on the couch, exploring one another's bodies. Finn pushed the fabric of Rachel's shirt down, revealing her chest. He couldn't help but think that her breast fit perfectly in his hand, and he savored the feeling of it, wanting to keep hold of it forever. Rachel's hands somehow made their way south to Finn's zipper, and she was pulling it down, her hand slipping into his jeans. This was the moment, the moment was now.

"What the hell is going on here?" someone screeched, and Finn suddenly jumped off Rachel, scrambling to the other side of the sofa. He stood up abruptly, looking from the shocked expression on Rachel's face to the horrified one on Quinn's. She stood there, her hair in a messy ponytail, and a purse hanging from her hand. She was gaping at Finn and Rachel, and Rachel seemed stuck on the couch.

"I have to go." Finn said quickly, sweeping out of the room and down the hall, quickly stuffing his shoes back on.

"Yeah, you do. You _really _have to." Quinn said as Finn opened the door, and closed the door behind him, leaving Quinn to stare with her mouth open at Rachel. Rachel simply looked back at her, still lying on the sofa.

Rachel's last thoughts before she passed out: he's a really good kisser.


	6. My World is Upside Down

Her eyelids fluttered open, the sunlight spilling in through the windows, blinding her. Rachel put up a hand to shield her eyes, feeling like someone had stomped on her head many times. She felt dirty and sick; Rachel was lying on the sofa in the living room, her hair a mess around her head. Footsteps could be heard from the kitchen, and Rachel's eyes shifted to the clock on the wall; 10:30. Why did she feel like shit? Quinn appeared, leaning up against the wall of the living room with a coffee mug in her hands. She was wearing her favorite purple and green flannel pajama pants with a black tank, smirking at Rachel.

"Morning sunshine." She said, moving to sit at Rachel's feet. She starred at Rachel with a smile that said that she knew something Rachel didn't, and Rachel didn't like that smile; it was a scary one.

"What did I do last night?" Rachel mumbled, throwing her arm over her eyes. Her head was aching, and she couldn't take control of it. Quinn only sipped some more coffee, that smile stuck on her face.

"Well, I don't know all the details, but I do know I came home to see you quickly going to third with Finn." She told Rachel, and at those words, Rachel sat up, making her head hurt even more. Groaning, she laid back down, straining her memory as she tried to remember what happened the night before. Yes, she remembered now. She and Finn had gone to the bar, she had a few drinks, and they came back to her place. And then they did….

"I'm so stupid." Rachel groaned, and Quinn laughed a little, standing up and going to the kitchen. She heard a few clatters and clanks before Quinn came back with a glass of water and an Advil.

"Here, have this." She directed, and Rachel swallowed the Advil while gulping down the water. Once it was empty, she put the glass down on the wooden floor, slumping back down on the couch in defeat. Why had she kissed him? Why had she done that? Her mission was to _not _do that. Rachel told Quinn she _wouldn't _do that. "I agree with you; it was stupid."

"I shouldn't have done that. Quinn, I told myself I wouldn't." Rachel said, running her hands though her hair. Oh no, what did Finn think about all of this? Did he not like it? Does he hate her now? Does he feel just as shitty as she does? Is he just as awkward about this? Santana! Shit, Santana! What about Santana? What about Finn's girlfriend?

"I know. What happened to not drinking too much? What happened to not being the Dunkin' Donuts girl?" Quinn asked, and Rachel rubbed her eyes. She was right; Rachel was turning into the Dunkin' Donuts girl. She didn't want to be the stupid Dunkin' Donuts girl! She didn't want to be alone by the end of the story!

"I'm so sorry, Quinn. I don't know what came over me to drink that much! I just wanted to fit in with everyone else there, and everyone was drinking, and Finn got me this drink, and I didn't want to be rude by refusing it. The drink was so good though, and I needed another, and Finn really liked me. I danced with this one guy. God, I can't even remember his name, but he was an awesome dancer. And then Finn and I danced, and I was having such a great time! I don't know what happened!" Rachel blurted, the words coming out in jumble. She was a mess, and she still felt so horrible. Quinn gave her a sympathetic look. "Do you think he hates me now?"

"No, I don't think he hates you. He was definitely kissing you back, so it wasn't like he didn't want you the same way you wanted him. I'm sure he's just feeling ashamed now because he has a girlfriend and then he has…well, he has you." She explained, and Rachel sighed loudly. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Why couldn't she have the story about the security guard at the museum and the girl who went to see him every day before they started going out, and eventually married? Why did Rachel have to be living this nightmare of a story where her character was a slut?

"That kiss was amazing." Rachel breathed out, not even noticing she said it out loud until she did. Quinn looked up from her coffee to stare at Rachel.

"He was that good?" she asked in a quiet voice, and Rachel found herself sitting up, leaning against the back of the sofa for support. She thought about it, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I don't know if it was the way Finn actually kissed me, or just the kiss alone. It was like nothing I had ever felt before; I saw so many things that I never thought existed." Rachel said, and Quinn gave her a confused look. She shook her head at her. "No, it wasn't that. I felt more then saw; I felt new and whole and wonderful. I felt powerful, like I could do anything. I felt like everything in the world was suddenly clear, and nothing was bad anymore because I had this kiss. I had this kiss that made me stop thinking and living; it just had me sit there and be blown away. I had found that kiss, Quinn. I found this perfect and beautiful kiss, and I didn't want to lose it ever. Honestly, and I know I shouldn't feel this way because of Santana; but I would kiss Finn again in a heartbeat. There's just something about his kiss. I know it's cheesy to say, but it was…magical."

There was a long silence after Rachel's speech. Quinn starred at her, the coffee mug in her lap. Rachel hoped that what she had said made sense.

"You are _so _the Dunkin' Donuts girl." Quinn said with a smile, and Rachel picked up the nearest pillow, throwing it at Quinn as they both burst into laughter.

FSFSFSFS

At first when Finn woke up, he was confused. No one was in bed with him, and he was alone in the house. Having Santana sleepover every single night had made Finn used to waking up with someone next to him. Santana. Just the thought of her name made Finn feel a whole mix of emotions, but only two stuck out; regret and guilt. After the little episode at Rachel's apartment, Finn practically ran home, running into his bed fully clothed, and shoving a pillow into his face. He couldn't believe he did that. How could he do that to Santana? What would she say if she knew what he had done? Finn had ruined their relationship! More than a year of commitment and he had blown it all away with a small make out session. Of course, Finn thought the kiss was perfect, best he had ever had, but that didn't stop the guilt from forming in his stomach. He still had a girlfriend that he was in love with. He was in love with Santana, right?

When he got home, Santana wasn't at his apartment like when he had left her. Finn supposed that she had gone to Brittany's apartment, and then went home from there. That must have been weird for her; to sleep in her own bed. Santana hadn't done that in a long time. She was welcomed to come here like she always does for the night, but then again, Finn wouldn't have been able to see her right after his night with Rachel. He would have broken down and told her everything before he could think about what he was doing.

That was the big question, wasn't it? Was he going to tell Santana what happened? All Santana actually knew about the night at the bar was that he was going; he didn't bother to tell her he was going with a friend, much less Rachel. He could already picture the argument that would come out of that. Can you imagine; Finn bringing the girl who made his food at Dunkin' Donuts to a bar? Yeah, that would go over well. So what was he going to do? Well, Finn had to keep it a secret. He couldn't let Santana know about his little slip up; she would kill him. No, he was going to save both of them the drama, and not tell her anyway. It wouldn't matter in the long run anyway; it was only a couple of kisses. Nothing happened anyway.

"It's me!" Santana shouted from down the hall. Finn could hear the door shut behind her, and he quickly stood out of bed, his head hurting a little. He had to make sure of something, ever since he kissed Rachel he had felt different, the kiss felt different from the ones with Santana. Finn had to make sure something was still set in stone.

"I'm glad you're here." Finn said, quickly walking down the hall and into the kitchen where Santana had her head in the fridge. She turned around, closing the fridge, her eyebrows raised.

"Are you?" she asked, and then Finn took one giant step towards her, taking her in his arms. His lips crashed onto hers, and Santana's arms went around Finn's neck automatically. Finn shoved his tongue into her mouth, which she accepted eagerly. He was looking for something, waiting to feel something, but it never came. Finally, Finn pulled away, his lips a little swollen from the kissing. Santana gazed at him, still in his arms.

"What was that for?" she whispered, and Finn looked into her eyes, searching. He stroked her cheek gently.

"I just had to make sure of something." He told her, and Santana only looked at him for a little longer.

"Are you sure of it now?" she asked rather hesitantly. Finn swallowed hard before answering. Was he sure now?

"Yeah, I'm sure now." He said, and then Santana was out of his arms, sitting at the kitchen table. Still in his thoughts, Finn took the seat opposite of Santana, trying to figure out what had just happened. He couldn't deny it; something was very different about his kiss with Santana compared to his kiss with Rachel. And it wasn't different in a good way.

"I slept over Brittany's. That's why I wasn't here. What time did you get back last night?" Santana asked, and Finn looked up at her, panic rising inside of him. Did she know? Was that why she was looking at him like that? Did she know that he kind of maybe liked Rachel Berry? No, how would she know that? Finn had to stop thinking the worst.

"At about one." He answered, and Santana went over to the fridge again for some orange juice.

"You had fun then?" she asked, her back facing him. Finn swallowed again; yeah, he had fun; too much fun.

"Yeah, it was a good time." He said, and Santana smiled.

"Hey, go pick up the Dunkin' Donuts, will you?" she asked. Finn looked up in horror. Go to the Dunkin' Donuts where Rachel was? Yeah, no thanks; he would do anything but that. Finn needed a couple of days to think about everything before he saw Rachel again.

"How about I make breakfast today?" Finn asked, standing up and walking over to the stove. He was pretty sure he had some eggs and cheese; he could whip up an omelet for the two of them. It was better than wasting money.

"I guess, but only for today." Santana said, and Finn nodded at her. He was just glad she wasn't making a big deal out of this one change.

"Only for today." He agreed, and got to work on the breakfast, hoping Santana wouldn't suddenly be able to read his mind and find out his secret.

FPFPFPFP

Puck entered the back room, finding Finn slumped on the old couch with a coffee mug in his hand. He sat down next to him, pulling out a cigarette and a lighter. Finn only glanced at him, and then went back to looking extremely glum.

"Had a hard weekend?" Puck asked, and Finn shook his head at him. "How's your girlfriend, oh what's her name, Santana?"

"She's fine." He said quickly, and Puck threw him a suspicious look. Finn didn't notice it, sipping at his coffee.

"And how's Rachel? Did you two have fun Friday night?" he asked, and Finn gave him a panicked look, quickly recovering. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Yeah, yeah, we had a good time. Thanks for inviting us." Finn said, looking down at the coffee. Only the memory of Rachel had Puck getting hot.

"No problem. She's really hot, Rachel I mean." Puck said, glancing at Finn. Finn's eye wavered, trying to keep his focus on his drink. He didn't want to think about how attractive Rachel was; he already did that enough without someone mentioning it to him. The reminder wasn't needed. "Are you into her?"

"We kissed." Finn said honestly, not knowing exactly where the honesty was coming from. Puck took the cigarette out of his mouth, his jaw dropped. Finn looked away shamefully, already trying to think of an excuse for kissing Rachel.

"Okay. I was just talking about how sexy she was, and you just blurted out that you guys made out." Puck exclaimed, throwing up his hands. "What happened afterwards?"

"Nothing happened. Her roommate came home and caught us. I left, and I haven't talked to her since then." Finn explained, and Puck sighed loudly, looking around the room. What was so great about Finn anyway? As far as Puck can tell, the guy was as smart as a first grader and had the sex appeal of a baby. There wasn't that much going on there.

"Well, did you like the kiss? You should call her." Puck said, putting the cigarette back into his mouth. Finn gave him an incredulous look as if Puck had lost his mind.

"What? I can't do that, I'll mess it up somehow or something! Besides, she probably doesn't like me like that. And- and what about Santana? You know; my girlfriend? What about her?" Finn asked, and Puck rolled his eyes at him. What a drama queen.

"Dude, you like this Rachel girl, right?" Puck asked, and after a quiet moment, Finn slowly nodded. "And if you guys were heading to third, chances are she's into you too. Oh, and this whole Santana thing you're freaking out about? Stop freaking about it! You're a guy; you can't expect yourself to settle down that quickly. Play the field a little, see what else is out there, before you throw your life away to only one girl. I'm sure Santana would do the same if she were in your position."

"Well, if that's the case, what am I supposed to do about Rachel?" he asked, and Puck threw his arms up again.

"I don't know! Demand to speak with her, sweep her off her feet, you can stand out her window with a guitar and sing a love song to her for I care! Dude, just do something!" he said, and Finn nodded his head. Yeah, he had to do something. Puck was right; he had to play the field and make sure he was satisfied with what he had before sticking with it. He was going to do that; he was going to break the rules. And it would start today.

FRFRFRFR

The customer was giving her a hard time; did it really matter how burnt the toast was? But the woman was still standing there, complaining about how these "kind of places" just didn't know what they were doing. Finally, the woman seemed satisfied with the food, throwing her money at Rachel, and storming off with her brown bag. Rachel happily watched her go as another person came in. Shit.

She quickly turned around, looking up at the selection of donuts, trying not to panic. It was only a man, it was only Finn Hudson. _Finn Hudson. _The name alone had Rachel melting into the floor. Why did she have to be falling so hard for him? Why did she always have to go for guys that were unattainable? Why did it have to be Finn, and why did he have to be dating Santana? He probably hated her for what happened Friday night. He must have thought she was a desperate slut who had sex with guys who already had girlfriends. What was she going to do? What was she going to do?

"Rachel." He said, and she had no choice but to turn around and face him. Finn stood there, a small smile on his lips. Okay, so maybe that meant he didn't entirely hate her. But what did the smile mean then? Rachel put on her bravest face before answering him.

"Finn…hi." She breathed out, trying to ignore meeting his gaze. He was still smiling at her, and Rachel didn't know what to do. "Where have you been this weekend? I was a little worried."

"Oh, Santana and I cooked. Money doesn't grow on trees, you know." Finn said, giving an awkward laugh. Rachel joined in just as awkwardly, until their laughter faded away. "I just thought we should talk about, you know, what happened."

"That's hardly needed I think. We just got caught up in the moment. I'm sorry, and it won't happen again. Friends, right?" Rachel said quickly, wanting to leave this whole mess behind her. She would have rather had Finn as a friend, then not have Finn in her life at all. Something about Finn's expression changed, and he suddenly became more insecure and uncomfortable.

"Um, yeah, you're right. Right, I'm glad that's all cleared up. I'm glad we're friends." Finn said, looking down at the counter, shoving his hands in his pockets. Rachel tried to give him a smile, but it came out more of a grimace. So everything that happened to them Friday night was now forgotten, just like that? Rachel didn't like the sound of that one bit.

"We should hang out one day. You know, as friends." Rachel said, wanting to spend time with Finn. He smiled at her, relieved that his feeling weren't _completely _one sided. At least Rachel still wanted to spend time with him.

"We should. Here," Finn said taking out his cell phone and giving it to Rachel, "Put your number in, and I'll put my number in your phone."

Rachel took her cell phone out of her pants pocket, handing it to Finn. As she put her number in, he did the same, and then exchanged phones again. Finn smiled as he put his phone back into his pocket.

"Alright, so I'll call you then." He said, and Rachel nodded her head quickly, not able to hold back her smile. Well, if one good thing came out of that Friday night, it was this. "I should probably get a coffee since I'm here. It would be rude to come here and not buy anything."

"Yeah, I'll get that for you." She said, and Rachel turned around to get the coffee. Finn waited patiently, Rachel finally turning back around with his coffee. "Here you are."

"Thanks Rachel. You're great." Finn said, taking the coffee and paying Rachel. She smiled even bigger as she took out the change and handed it to Finn; she liked the way he called her great. Would it be weird if she asked him to repeat it?

"No problem. See you, Finn." Rachel called, Finn turning his back to her. He looked over his shoulder as he opened the front door to leave.

"Yeah, I'll call you." He called, and Rachel waved at him with that big, stupid grin she kept wearing.

FSFSFSFS

Finn was thinking about Rachel as he stood in the elevator in his apartment building, the coffee in is hand. He hadn't actually taken a sip of it yet; he wasn't in the mood for coffee. The elevator door opened, and a man walked in, pressing one of the floor buttons. Usually, Finn got easily irritated when someone made the elevator trip longer then it could have been, but today he didn't even mind. Sure, Rachel was obviously not into the idea of fooling around behind Santana's back like Puck had suggested, but she still wanted to be friends. And that was good with Finn. Plus, he had her number now, so he can call her whenever he wanted to, and that was totally awesome.

The elevator door opened to his floor, and he walked down the hall to his room, taking the key out of his pocket. He put it in, turned it, and opened the door. Finn took the key back out, putting it in is coat pocket and throwing the coat on the sofa in the living room. Loud thumping was going on down the hall, and Finn curiously walked down to his bedroom, wondering what Santana could have been doing. There was a groan. Was that a moan? What was going on?

The doorknob turned, he pushed the door opened, and starred at what was in front of him. If Santana wasn't his girlfriend, Finn would have thought this girl on girl action was incredibly hot.


	7. That Stupid Sapphire Necklace

The sapphire necklace was hanging from his pointer finger, swinging in the air. Finn starred at it miserably, sprawled on the living room sofa with his head on the arm chair. He had been watching the golden chain swing back and forth for almost an hour now, not having the energy to get up. Was it already a couple of days ago that Finn had caught Santana and Brittany having sex in his bedroom? Just the thought of the memory made Finn groan with misery; he wasn't expecting that.

Since he had met her, Finn was sure that Santana was going to be the one he married…until he found out she was a lesbian. To give Santana credit, Finn had known he wasn't going to marry Santana for about two weeks now, around the time he met Rachel. There was just something about Rachel; she had him feeling all these things he had never experienced, and had him starting to doubt his relationship. Santana must have doubted their relationship too, because as it turns out, she's been sleeping around with Brittany for months now. Finn should have seen that one coming.

There he was worrying about Santana finding out he had made out with Rachel once, when Santana was having sex behind his back with her best friend. Why should he have felt guilty when Santana had so much more to feel guilty about? The funny part was, even though he now knew about Santana's activities, he still felt like the one who had betrayed in the relationship. Finn shouldn't feel this way; he didn't do anything wrong compared to Santana.

But why did Santana start something with Brittany? Why did she feel like she had to have something on the side in addition to Finn? He couldn't help but feel like it was his fault Santana had cheated. Was he not good enough for her? Was he bad in bed? Did he not show her enough love? Or was it that Finn did love her, but Santana didn't love him the same way? He had always been so sure that Santana was the girl for him, but did she think he was the man for her? Obviously not, because it turns out Santana is looking for the _girl _of her dreams. What was wrong with Finn? Why wasn't he good enough?

Finn had taken two personal days and spent his time moping around his apartment and watching soap operas. The TV character's problems made Finn's not look so bad. Before the Santana and Brittany incident, Finn had told himself he would call Rachel later that day, but it left his mind after the fight with Santana, the breakup, and the return of the sapphire necklace. It was for the best he guessed, but Rachel was still on his mind. He didn't want to keep her hanging. At that moment, the phone started ringing, and Finn threw one of the throw pillows over his head, trying to block out the annoying sound. The phone stopped ringing, and the message began.

"Hi, Finn, this is Rachel. I haven't seen you at the Dunkin' Donuts in a few days and you haven't called, so I wanted to make sure you were alright. If there's a problem, you can always talk to me if you need a friend. Anyway, I hope you're okay, and call me back when you get this message. Okay? Okay, bye." And the message ended, and Finn removed the pillow from his face, thinking hard. There was only one good thing from his breakup with Santana; time with Rachel without feeling guilty.

FRFRFRFR

Rachel picked at her food with her fork, deep in thought. She was worried about Finn; she hadn't seen him or Santana at the Dunkin' Donuts the past couple of days or gotten a phone call from him. Maybe everything was fine with Finn, maybe the real problem was that he changed his mind; he didn't want to be Rachel's friend. He decided Rachel was a loser and wasn't worth spending time with, and convinced Santana to not go to Dunkin' Donuts anymore for breakfast. She hoped that wasn't the case.

"Are you going to eat that or just stare at it?" Quinn asked, glancing at Rachel's untouched meal. She put some more food in her mouth, Rachel starring at her with a hard look.

"I'm sorry, I'm distracted. It's Finn; I'm worried about him." Rachel said putting down her fork. Quinn fought the urge to roll her eyes at her best friend; Rachel was awesome, but sometimes she could be such a drama queen.

"I'm sure he's fine. He'll call you back, I know it." Quinn said confidently, and Rachel picked at her food again. She wanted to believe Quinn, but she was still afraid of the thought that Finn didn't want to see her ever again.

"But what if he doesn't? What if he's decided that he hates me?" Rachel asked, and this time Quinn actually did her roll her eyes. Yeah, Finn suddenly hated her; that was definitely the case.

"He does not hate you. Just be patient." She assured Rachel, standing up with her empty plate and putting it in the dishwasher. "I've got to head to work, but promise me you won't do anything crazy while I'm gone."

Rachel rolled her eyes, and sighed loudly. Quinn pulled on her coat, eyeing Rachel.

"Promise me." She said again, and Rachel put her chin in her hand.

"I promise." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes again. Quinn smiled at her, obviously proud, and turned to open the front door.

"Good. See you tomorrow?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Yeah, good luck." Rachel responded before the door closed behind her, leaving Rachel by herself. She put her fork down on the table, having no appetite at all. She put the plate of food in the fridge for later when she was actually hungry, and then went into the bathroom. Rachel was reading one of Quinn's magazines when the phone started ringing.

"Shit." Rachel mumbled, throwing the magazine on the floor, and as quickly as possible, washed her hands and swung open the door. That could be Finn calling and she wasn't going to miss it just because she was in the bathroom. It wasn't until she reached the phone in the kitchen that Rachel realized her skirt was being dragged on the floor by her foot.

"Hello, this is Rachel." She said into the phone, using her one hand that wasn't holding the phone to put her skirt on properly. The person on the other line breathed loudly.

"Hi Rachel this is Finn. Can you come over?" he asked hesitantly, and there was a moment of silence. Finn wanted Rachel to come over now? Would they be by themselves or would Santana be there? Would it really matter either way if Santana was there, as long as Finn was? Finn must have taken Rachel's silence as a bad sign, because he went on. "I kind of need someone to talk to."

"Yeah, I understand. I'm coming now." Rachel said, regaining her ability to speak. She slipped on a pair of flats and threw on her coat.

"Okay. Thanks Rachel." He said, sounding relieved. She picked up her keys and shut the front door behind her, locking it.

"No problem. See you soon." She answered, and Finn nodded on the other side.

FRFRFRFR

She walked quickly to the Dunkin' Donuts, but once she got there Rachel didn't know what to do next. She knew Finn lived on this street, but she didn't know exactly where. Rachel had to call him again to ask for the address, and after Finn told her, she walked down the street to his apartment building. In the elevator, Rachel fumbled over the floor number, the old man next her looking at her suspiciously. Rachel couldn't help it if she was a little nervous; Finn needed someone to talk to and he had chosen her. That must have meant something. The floor where Finn's apartment was seemed to go on forever, but finally Rachel got to the right door. She took one more deep breathe before knocking two times on the door. It was only a few seconds before she heard footsteps and the door opened to reveal Finn.

He looked like he hadn't gotten any proper sleep in days; his hair was big mess, his face was covered in more hair than usual, there were dark circles under his eyes, and he was wearing sweatpants and a huge football shirt. Finn smiled at Rachel brightly when he saw her, stepping aside for Rachel to come in. Even if he looked like he hadn't used the shower in a couple of days, Rachel still thought he looked perfect.

"Thanks for coming, Rachel." Finn said as Rachel took off her coat, and looked at the apartment around her. She turned to Finn, holding up the coat with a questions mark on her face. "Oh, you can just throw that on the couch in the living room."

Finn led Rachel down the hall to a small living room, and she put her coat on the arm chair of the sofa. It looked like the couch was where Finn had been sleeping; blankets and pillows were thrown all around the room. She wondered why he wasn't sleeping in his own bedroom.

"It was no trouble. Where's Santana? Where have you been lately? Why does it look like you're not getting any sleep?" Rachel asked trying to control the vomit of questions, but they went flowing out anyway. Finn didn't know what to say, he kept looking around the apartment as if he had just realized he should have cleaned it up a little before Rachel came over, scratching the back of his neck.

"Um, why don't you sit down and I'll tell you what happened?" he asked, and Rachel sat down on the couch, moving a pillow out of the way. Finn sat down next to her, keeping a safe distance between them, and then stood up again. Rachel wondered why he was so shifty.

"Do you want like a drink or something?" he asked, and Rachel shook her head at him. She didn't want a drink; she just wanted to know what was wrong with Finn. "Right, well, I think I might need some water."

Finn disappeared into the kitchen, and Rachel heard the breaking of ice and the tap turn on and off. After a minute, Finn came back into the room with a tall glass of cold water drinking it fervently. He took his seat next to Rachel, and put the glass of water on the floor, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"So where is Santana exactly? Is she at work?" Rachel asked again, wanting to start this conversation before Finn could stand up again and leave the room. Finn looked very uncomfortable with this question, shifting in his seat, starring at the wall opposite of him.

"I suppose Santana is at work, or she could be at her apartment. Either way, it's not like it's any of my business anymore." Finn said, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. Rachel's breathe caught in her throat; did he mean what she thought he meant?

"Did you two…breakup?" Rachel asked, afraid to ask the question out loud. If that was the case, Finn was sure to be sour about it. As it was, his eye twitched at the question. There was a long moment of silence as Finn took another gulp of water.

"I caught her having sex with Brittany." Finn blurted out. Rachel starred at him with wide eyes; she might not know who Brittany was, but she did know that Brittany was a girl's name and that only meant one thing…. "Brittany's her best friend. I found it they've been doing it for months now."

Rachel didn't know how to answer to that, and even if she did, her mouth wouldn't let her. On some level, Rachel was a little relieved, at least Finn and Santana weren't together now, so Rachel wouldn't have to be that Dunkin' Donuts girl, but for the most part Rachel just felt bad for Finn. It's one thing for you to find out your girlfriend of more than a year is cheating on you, but it's another thing entirely to find out she was cheating on you with another girl.

"I'm so sorry, Finn. I can't even _imagine _what this must be like for you." Rachel said, her hand going to his shoulder before she can stop it. It was okay, right? Friends can comfort other friends when they're hurt, right? Finn shook his head, clearly lost in thought.

"It feels like everything is suddenly upside down or something. I mean, I've doubted my relationship with Santana for a while now, but I would have never thought…I would have never guessed…. I knew Santana and Brittany were close, and I knew that they loved each other, and yeah, sometimes I wondered who Santana love more, but I never saw this coming. What guy could guess that his girlfriend was a lesbian anyway?" Finn said in confusion, still looking at the wall. Rachel only kept rubbing his shoulder. "You know what bothers me most though? It's not the fact that Santana isn't into guys; it's the fact that I wasn't good enough for her; the fact that she felt the need to have someone on the side besides me. I mean, what was I doing wrong? What doesn't make me enough for one person? It makes me think; maybe I'm not good enough for anyone."

"Don't say that Finn; it's not true." Rachel said before she could think about it. But how could Finn actually think that? Didn't he know how great he really was? "You're a wonderful person, and I can assure that there is someone out there that thinks you're enough for them, and wouldn't want to be with anyone but you. So that person wasn't Santana, Santana thought she could get better; that's her loss. I think she missed out on an amazing guy who would always bring joy to her life."

Finn looked up at her after she finished talking, something hiding in his eyes. Rachel held back from saying that the one person who didn't want to be with anyone but him was her, but she was pretty sure she had convinced Finn. He bit his bottom lip as he gazed down at Rachel.

"Do you really think that or are you just saying that to make me feel better?" he asked, and Rachel moved in closer subconsciously, wanting to comfort Finn more. Her hand was still rubbing his shoulder, Finn not even noticing it.

"I know it's true. Everything I tell you is the truth." Rachel told him honestly, starring into his eyes. It was silent for a long time as the two of them looked at each other, lost in thought. Rachel didn't know how long they sat there looking at each other, but finally, Finn spoke again.

"Thank you Rachel. You really are a good friend." He said quietly, and Rachel just simply smiled at him. Finn's hand slipped into his pants pocket, pulling out a golden chain. With her heart thumping against her chest, Rachel realized it was the sapphire necklace that Finn had given to Santana. He held it in his hands for Rachel to see, and then took the hand Rachel had on his shoulder, putting the necklace into Rachel's hand. Finn closed Rachel's hand around the necklace, Rachel trying to ignore the way his hand felt around hers. The necklace felt like it was burning a hole into her skin.

"Wasn't this Santana's?" Rachel asked in a whisper once Finn pulled his hand away, and she opened her hand back up to look down at the beautiful necklace. Finn's eyes were on it too. Rachel didn't understand why he was giving it to her though.

"It was, but I took it back when we broke up. I figure that it should be useful instead of just hanging around my apartment as a bad memory; you can exchange it for money or something. You know, as a tip for all those mornings you've made my breakfast." Finn explains, and Rachel has no idea why there are tears gathering up in her eyes. She has to force herself to keep them back. Rachel doesn't deserve this, she doesn't deserve any of this; she isn't a good person, she fell for someone who was in a relationship. Even though it wasn't her fault, Rachel couldn't help but feel like Finn's breakup was somewhat her fault.

"I can't do that, Finn. This was your girlfriend's, it wouldn't be right if I-"but the rest of Rachel's words were interrupted by Finn, who closed Rachel's hand around the necklace again.

"Please Rachel, just take it. I need you to take it." Finn pleaded. Rachel's eyes met his, and saw that his eyes looked glassy. There was no way she could say no now, there was no way Rachel can push the necklace back into Finn's hand now.

"Okay." Rachel breathed out, and a smile appeared on Finn's face. The smile made Rachel smile, making her forget completely about the necklace in her hand.

RQRQRQRQ

It became obvious the next day to Rachel that Finn's daily morning stops at Dunkin' Donuts had now come to an end. She supposed that Santana was the one who liked to waste money on breakfast every day. Santana; the name alone made Rachel think about what had happened the day before; how could she do something like that to Finn? Be a lesbian, fine, no one can do anything about that anyway, but don't go cheating on Finn because of it, especially in his own apartment. Rachel couldn't help but think that if she were Finn's girlfriend, no one, man or woman, would ever catch her eye again. Wait a second; it was already like that, no one but Finn was catching her eye.

She went through her work day in a daze, not able to concentrate on anything but how Finn must have been feeling. Rachel wished there was another way to help him; he looked so torn up. Even if he was already getting over Santana when they were together, it didn't make Finn feel good to be second best. She wanted to talk to him; Rachel wanted to see him again. No, scratch that; Rachel _needed _to talk and see Finn again. And she was sure he needed to too.

Rachel found herself sitting on her bed, the sapphire necklace in her hand. She didn't have it in her to exchange it for actual money; there was just something about the necklace that was stopping her from doing it. It was such a pretty necklace, and it must have cost Finn a fortune; he must have really loved Santana. That made her chest ache, and Rachel assumed it was really her heart in pain. Rachel realized that Santana must have received this necklace around the same time she started cheating on Finn with Brittany. How could she wear this necklace and have sex with Brittany at the same time? Didn't she feel any guilt?

"Hey Rachel, do you know where my keys went?" Quinn called from outside of Rachel's room, and then she opened the door and walked in, finding Rachel with the necklace in her hand. "What's that?"

Quinn came to sit on the bed next to Rachel, taking it out of Rachel's hand to examine it closer. When she saw the red sapphire in the middle, her eyes went wide, recognizing who it belonged to. She turned to look at Rachel, who showed no emotion on her face.

"Isn't this Santana's?" Quinn asked, and Rachel bit her lower lip.

"Santana cheated on Finn with a girl named Brittany." She said, and Quinn's head went from the necklace to Rachel, her eyes as big as golf balls. Her jaw dropped in surprise.

"What?" she gasped out, and Rachel sighed loudly.

"Finn found them in his bed, he and Santana got into this big argument, he took the necklace back, and they broke up. He gave the necklace to me, and told me to exchange it for real money or some crap like that, and I comforted him and stuff." Rachel explained, and Quinn managed to close her mouth. Rachel thought she would find the first part interesting, but Quinn was stuck on another part of what Rachel had said.

"What do you mean by _stuff_?" she asked, eyeing Rachel. Rachel responded by rolling her eyes; why did Quinn think that Rachel was always doing the dirty with Finn?

"I mean, we mostly just talked about it, and I rubbed his shoulder in a comfortable manner." Rachel said, and Quinn smiled at her. Her smile quickly turned into a frown though.

"Poor Finn, he must feel so terrible. It must be absolutely embarrassing to find out your girlfriend is a lesbian." Quinn said sympathetically, and Rachel silently nodded her head in agreement. If only Quinn had seen Finn the day before; she would have pitied him even more. Rachel sure did. They were silent for a long time as Quinn absorbed all this new information, and then Quinn gave Rachel a suspicious look.

"Wait a second, if he told you to exchange it for cash, then why do you still have the necklace?" she asked, and Rachel shifted her gaze to the floor. She just couldn't give the necklace up; it had too much meaning. Rachel didn't know exactly why, but her body just wouldn't let her.

"I can't bring myself to do it." Rachel said honestly, and Quinn frowned at her with pity.

"So you're just going to keep starring at it?" she asked, and Rachel swallowed hard without answering. Quinn sighed, putting the necklace back in Rachel's open hand. "Well, if you're going to keep it, aren't you the least bit curious to see how it would look on you?"

Rachel's eyes flashed from the floor to Quinn's serious face in panic. No, she couldn't do that; it wouldn't be right. This necklace was Santana's, well, it was actually Finn's, but it still wasn't Rachel's either way. She just, she couldn't do that.

"I can't do that." Rachel said, and it was Quinn's turn to roll her eyes, taking the necklace back from Rachel.

"Yes you can. You know you want to." Quinn said, and then stood up. Yes, Rachel couldn't deny it; she wanted to try the necklace on, but it was still the wrong thing to do. Quinn pulled on her hand, dragging Rachel to the bathroom. "Come on, the light's better in here."

Standing in front of the sink, looking at herself in the mirror, Rachel watched as Quinn pushed Rachel's hair out of the way and put the necklace around her neck. The sapphire brushed against Rachel's skin, giving her goosebumps. Quinn clasped the necklace closed, and then stood back so Rachel can absorb the image in the mirror. Rachel had to admit; the necklace looked beautiful on her. The color complemented her well, and she really liked the way the sapphire stone seemed to gleam. No wonder Santana always wore it; Rachel would too.

"I like it." Quinn said, her head turning to the side in thought. She smiled at Rachel in the reflection. "I think it looks better on you then it did on Santana."

"No way." Rachel laughed, going a little red. He hand went up to grasp the sapphire. "It most definitely looks better on Santana."

Rachel went to take it off, putting the necklace gently down on the sink. Quinn was still smiling when she turned around to face her, Rachel's hand brushing against the sink. She didn't even hear the light "plop" sound in the toilet until Quinn's eyes widened.

"Oh my god, Rachel!" she said loudly, pointing to the toilet next to the sink. Rachel turned around to see what Quinn was pointing to, and to her horror, she saw that the perfect, sapphire necklace was now floating on the surface of the toilet water. _Oh shit._

"How the hell did that happen?" Rachel shouted in panic, starring at the necklace.

"You spaz, you pushed it right off when you turned around!" Quinn shouted back, her eyes still on the necklace. "I'm not going to get that!"

"Wait, you mean…you mean I_ have to get that?_" Rachel asked, gaping at Quinn. Quinn shrugged her shoulders as if to say "who else", and Rachel turned back to the toilet with a loud sigh. Did he really have to put her hand in the _toilet water_? Oh, Rachel was _so _not looking forward to this.


	8. What is Love Anyway?

It was while she was serving a customer, when Rachel came to the realization that Finn probably hadn't had a decent meal in God only knows how long. The poor guy was probably living on scraps of food he had in his refrigerator. Rachel was an excellent cook, and she felt like it was her duty to help Finn in his time of need. Yes, he had returned back to work, but she could tell that he was still a little down. A nice, well cooked dinner should help him, Rachel thought, and it was a friendly thing to do. It was friendly, right?

Friendly or not, Rachel found herself in the museum where Finn worked. She walked down the familiar hall where she had first laid eyes on Finn Hudson, hoping that he would be at the same place as before. To Rachel's disappointment, Finn wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Hey, it's Rachel!" someone called from behind her, and Rachel quickly turned around. She knew it wasn't Finn; the man's voice was deeper, and he didn't look anything like Finn. For one thing, this guy had a mohawk, and Finn didn't have one of those. He was smiling at her, and walking towards Rachel as if he knew her. He looked familiar, but Rachel couldn't remember where she had first met him.

"You probably don't remember me, but we met at the bar that one night. I'm Puck, ring a bell?" he asked, and Rachel scrunched up her nose. Yes, she could distinctly remember meeting Puck; he was the one who called her hot. He was the one that made both her and Finn feel very uncomfortable when he asked Finn if he thought Rachel was hot.

"Oh, I remember you now." Rachel said with nod, and Puck's smile grew wider. She didn't understand what he found so amusing.

"Well, I remember you alright." He responded, and Rachel was afraid to know what made him snicker. "Are you looking for Finn?"

"Um, yes I am. Do you know where he is?" she asked, looking around Puck, as if she expected Finn to just pop out of midair.

"Yeah, I'll lead you to him." He said with another smile that said he knew something. Rachel said her thanks and quietly let Puck lead her down another hall full of boring art. She was hoping Puck wouldn't try to make conversation, but of course, he did. "I heard Finn and Santana broke up. Did you know that?"

"Yes, I did. I'm very sorry for him." Rachel said politely, wanting to drop the subject. She didn't feel talking about this with someone who was practically a stranger, and she also didn't know how much Puck knew about Finn and Santana's break up. Would Finn have told him about Santana being a lesbian, or would he be too embarrassed to admit that? Finally, Puck led her to the end of a hall where Finn was leaning against a wall, starring at a painting of a sunset.

"Finn, you have a visitor." Puck said in a sing song voice, and Finn turned his attention to Rachel, who was standing right behind Puck, a shy smile on her face. His face instantly brightened when he saw her, a wide smile breaking into his face. Rachel couldn't help but return it. "I guess I'll just…go now."

"Yeah, you do that." Finn agreed with Puck, giving him a knowing look before Puck walked back down the hall, leaving the two of them alone. Finn came closer to Rachel, so that he was right in front of her, smiling down at her.

"Hi. What are you doing here? Not that I don't like you visiting, but, well, you know what I mean…" Finn drifted off, feeling like he just messed up the moment. Rachel only smiled even bigger at him, and he had to force himself to not look too deeply into her eyes.

"I was just thinking that with the latest turn of events you haven't, um, had a proper meal, and, well, I'm a wonderful cook. I was thinking that maybe, I don't know, Friday night you can come over and I can make us dinner, a friendly dinner, of course." Rachel sputtered out, the tomato red blush creeping up her face. Finn just kept smiling at her, hardly believing his ears. In all his time he had been with Santana, she never offered to cook anything (perhaps it was because of the fact that she couldn't actually cook too well to begin with), but mostly because she just didn't want to put the effort into it. Santana always decided on takeout being the best idea. Finn was glad he was done with that.

"Sure!" Finn was able to say, and Rachel gave him a relieved smile. He didn't know what she was worried about in the first place; it wasn't like he would have said no. It didn't matter what they were going to do, Finn wasn't going to turn down spending time with Rachel.

"Great! That's great! So, you can come over my place around seven tomorrow. Quinn's working so that shouldn't be a problem." Rachel said, looking up with Finn. This was just getting better and better in Finn's mind, and he wasn't even sure why.

"Okay then! I'll see you tomorrow." Finn said, and Rachel flashed him another smile.

"See you tomorrow." Rachel repeated, as if not believing the words. She waved to him as she started to walk back down the hall, and Finn returned the wave with a grin frozen on his face. He had agreed to come over for dinner, and that was good thing. Yeah, she still had to come up with exactly what she was making, but Rachel couldn't help but give herself a little pat on the back as she left the museum.

RQRQRQRQ

The kitchen table Friday night was crowded with vegetables of all colors, a wonderful scent coming from the room. Quinn walked in to see Rachel dressed in a polka-dot skirt and a flurry pink blouse. She smiled as her best friend zoomed around the kitchen; putting things in the oven and turning off the fire at the stove. Someone was really putting in a lot of work for one simple dinner.

"I didn't know dinner took so much concentration." Quinn said, surprising Rachel who was leaning over a bowl of cut up carrots. Rachel glanced up at her, turning around to a pan of mixed vegetables on the stove.

"I want everything to be perfect." She said, turning to face Quinn, her hair in a messy bun. Rachel took in Quinn's long coat and her blonde hair draped around her shoulders. "Are you going to work now?"

"Yeah, I'm going, I'm going." She said, smirking at Rachel. Quinn quickly picked out one of the olives, and Rachel couldn't slap her hand away quickly enough before Quinn popped it into her mouth. "Don't worry; you have enough food."

"I would say have fun at work, but I doubt you will." Rachel said with her eyes still on the food. Quinn smiled, not really finding her funny.

"Good luck with your date." She called, walking down the hall and opening the front door. Rachel rolled her eyes with a loud sigh.

"It's not a date!" she shouted, but Quinn had already left the apartment, leaving Rachel alone to concentrate on the dinner she was making.

FRFRFRFR

The vegetable plate was practically done when someone knocked on the door, breaking Rachel's concentration. Her head snapped up to the direction of the door, panic starting to rise inside of her. What did she have to worry about anyway? It was only a simple dinner for a friend who was going through a rough time. Rachel had to remind herself of that, trying to keep herself calm as she walked towards the front door, opening it up to see Finn. He stood there, smiling brightly at her in khaki pants and a black t-shirt.

"Hi Finn." Rachel said, stepping aside to let Finn come in. He took off his jacket, hanging it up on the coat rack, and Rachel smiled at him.

"Thanks for inviting me Rachel. It smells good in here." He said, and Rachel led him to the kitchen, where she was just finishing the dinner. Finn's eyes widened when he saw all the food out on the table, scanning everything while Rachel stood there nervously, and waiting for Finn to say something. She wasn't completely sure what Finn liked, so she decided to juts make about everything she knew how to make.

"I hope you like what I made. I'm a vegan so the main dish will be a vegetable plate. I hope that's okay with you." Rachel said anxiously, her hands twisting, waiting for Finn to say something. He swallowed loudly, his eyes still on the food. She didn't know what to expect; Finn's face wasn't giving her any clues as to what he was thinking.

"It looks delicious. I can't wait to eat it all." He breathed out, still gazing down at the food. Rachel smiled, satisfied with herself for making Finn happy. His eyes were still glued to the dinner, finally shifting to Rachel's face. "When will it be ready?"

"Um, it's just about done." Rachel told him, taking the pan off the stove, and taking two bowls out of the cabinet above her. "Why don't you go sit down in the dining room down the hall and I'll bring in our soup."

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Finn asked; he felt like it would be rude to just leave Rachel with all the work. But she shook her head at him, licking off some butter that was on her finger. Finn tried not to stare as her tongue darted out to lick the butter.

"No, I'm fine. You're the guest after all. Just get seated and relax." She directed, and with a nod, Finn disappeared into the small dining room, where a round table sat in the middle. He took one of the seats, feeling that he might as well pour him and Rachel some wine since it was sitting there in the middle of the table. Rachel came in a few minutes later, holding two bowls of hot soup. She put one in front of Finn, and then took the seat opposite of him.

"Yours had chicken and mine's just vegies. I hope you don't mind the lack of meat throughout." Rachel said, concerned. Finn shook his head at her, reassuring Rachel that it was perfectly fine. Besides, no one had offered Finn a well, home cooked dinner in a long time, and he was thankful that Rachel did. He would take whatever he could get.

The rest of dinner went well, Rachel serving the main course and then pound cake with ice cream for dessert. If there was one thing Finn was sure of by the end of the dinner, it was that not only was Rachel easy to talk to, but she was also an excellent cook. He didn't understand why Rachel was working at a place like Dunkin' Donuts when she can totally work as a chef at a restaurant. It was like he had never tasted something so good.

Conversation went well too; the two of them covering just about every topic from the glee club Rachel used to be a part of in high school to their favorite movies. Finn realized that Rachel was the easiest person to have a conversation with; not only did she have lots to say about herself, but whenever Finn talked, she would listen intently as if he was saying the most important thing in the world. Rachel laughed and smiled a lot too, and Finn though she looked absolutely perfect when she did this.

"This dinner was amazing, Rachel." Finn complimented after dessert was done, his stomach full. Rachel gave him a shy smile, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, also very full.

"You really think so? I wasn't sure if you would like it, because I wasn't very sure what you liked." Rachel said, playing with the hem of her skirt. Finn gave her a reassuring smile, having trouble understanding how Rachel could think _anyone _wouldn't find her food delicious.

"No, no, everything was perfect." Finn told her, and Rachel gave him an even bigger smile. She couldn't help smiling every time Finn gave her a compliment, and if she kept smiling like that, Finn was willing to give her every compliment in the world.

"Do you want to have coffee in the living room?" Rachel asked, wanting Finn to stay longer. She didn't know what their goodbye would be like, but she did know that she didn't want it to come.

"Oh yeah, sure." He agreed, and they both picked up their empty plates, leaving the dining room for the kitchen, where Rachel started washing the dishes.

"No, Finn. You don't have to help me." She said, but Finn shook his head at her, picking up one of the plates.

"No, I have to do something. You made this whole entire dinner, and I'll just feel bad if I let you do all the work." He answered, passing Rachel the plate to dry. She gave him a small smile, going a little red as she ducked her head, focusing on the task at hand. The rest of the time washing and drying the plates was in a comfortable silence, Finn and Rachel every so often glancing up at one another when the other wasn't paying attention.

"Thanks for your help, Finn." Rachel said, going for the coffee maker in one of the cabinets. He watched as she did, not able to hide the fact that he was grinning at her. Rachel hardly glanced at him as she plugged in the coffee maker. "Don't worry; I know from enough experience how you like your coffee."

Finn smiled again, as Rachel led him to the living room, sitting on the sofa. Hesitantly, Rachel joined him, making sure not sit too closely to Finn. She played with the hem of her skirt nervously as Finn watched her, gazing down at her with a strange expression.

"What are you looking at?" she asked meeting his gaze. Finn quickly shifted his eyes to the wall behind Rachel, hoping she didn't notice him giving her _that _look. It was normal to feel this way about a friend, right? Like they were they were the most amazing thing to ever walk the planet?

"What? Oh, nothing." He said, trying to stay calm. Rachel stood up, telling Finn she would be right back with the coffee. As Rachel took out two of her nicest mugs in the kitchen, Finn was trying to get a grip. He couldn't have these feelings for Rachel; it wasn't right. Rachel was his friend, and he had just ended it with Santana. It wouldn't be right. But still, Finn couldn't help but think about that time he made out with Rachel, and how perfect it was. He was tempted to try it again, but Finn had to keep a grip on reality. Rachel was only his _friend_, and that wouldn't change. Soon enough, Rachel came back with two mugs in her hands, handing one over to Finn. He took a sip, the warmth immediately comforting him.

"Thanks Rachel." He said, and Rachel smiled over her mug at him. She had to admit; this night was going better then she though it would. Quinn hadn't barged in yet, and Rachel and Finn were keeping it at the friends' zone. Not that Rachel wanted to keep it that way, but she knew where their relationship stood, and she was determined to keep it that way.

"I really needed this. The dinner, I mean. I've had a really hard past couple of days, and this really helped." Finn said, a little uncomfortable. He didn't know if being this honest would scare Rachel or whatever, but he hoped it didn't. Instead, Rachel simply smiled at him, memorizing his words.

"It was no problem, really. I'm glad you were able to come." Rachel said, and then hesitated, wondering she should add the second part. She decided to just go for it. "I hope this took your mind off things."

"It did." Finn said, gazing down at her with an expression Rachel didn't recognize. It was weird; no one had ever looked at Rachel like that; she didn't know how to handle it. "Even though I was kind of over Santana when I was with her, it still hurts, you know? It hurts to know that the girl you loved doesn't love you enough to not hurt your feelings."

"I'm sorry Finn." Rachel said, subconsciously reaching out for Finn's hand, rubbing circles on his skin. "I know I've said that a lot lately, but you have no idea how true it is. You really loved her, didn't you?"

Finn looked down at his lap, thinking about what Rachel had asked him. Yes, he had loved Santana, but he didn't know if he was _in love _with Santana. There was a big difference, and Finn hadn't understood that difference until he had met Rachel, for some odd reason. Something about Rachel, something about Rachel that Finn couldn't figure out, made Finn's feelings for Santana change. He didn't know what it was, but it was something. It was most definitely something about Rachel.

"Yeah, I did." He said quietly, looking down at his free hand. Rachel's chest ached again, but she ignored it, holding on tighter to Finn's hand. Friends did this sort of thing; comfort each other after they've had a bad breakup. It was totally natural.

"What was it like, to be in love? How did you know you were?" Rachel whispered, worried that the question my cause Finn pain, but needing to know the answer anyway. She had only dated a few guys in her life, but if Rachel was honest with herself, she never actually knew how she felt about any of them. What was the difference between infatuation and love? How did someone know that they were in love in the first place? What was love, more plainly?

"I don't know if I loved her, to tell you the truth. I mean, I was mesmerized by Santana the minute I saw her. Does that mean I loved her right away, or does that only mean I was attracted to her right away?" Finn said slowly, deep in thought. Rachel bit her lip; if falling for someone at first sight was only an attraction and didn't mean you actually loved them, did what she feel for Finn mean nothing at all? "I loved her in some way, I know that. Every morning I woke up, and the first thing I thought about was her. The first thing that I pictured was Santana's face, and Santana's voice, and Santana in general. I loved spending time with her, and I just loved looking at her. And for the first time in my life, I felt like I had a reason for living, like I had found my place in the world."

Rachel starred at him, thinking about what Finn had said. If that was love, if Finn had explained love correctly, then that meant she had never felt love. The way he said those things, clearly lost in memories with a slight smile on his face, made Rachel doubt herself. If that was what love was, then she would never have that feeling. Rachel wasn't good enough for a feeling like that. Finn was quiet for a long time after that, and Rachel didn't want to interrupt his thoughts. If Finn felt that way so strongly about Santana, then how could he stop? Or, how could she? How could you turn off love like a light switch? What made you fall out of love anyway?

"You still have this?" Finn suddenly asked, looking at the coffee table in front of the couch. Rachel watched as Finn picked up the sapphire necklace that Rachel had left there after getting a phone call once she had rescued it from the toilet. She had forgotten it was there afterwards. Finn examined it, holding the chain delicately in his big hands.

"Oh, yeah, that. I didn't have it in me to give it away." Rachel said, stuttering. Finn looked up at her, his eyes widening at her as if he had realized something. "It means too much, to just be thrown away."

"I guess." Finn mumbled, still looking at Rachel with that expression that she couldn't understand. It was as if he was mystified by what he was seeing, like he was seeing something for the first time. Rachel wondered if she had a piece of broccoli in her teeth or something. She watched as he put the necklace back down on the table, the sapphire facing the other way, and then stretched his back to rub at it, a pained look on his face.

"Is your back hurting you?" Rachel asked, and Finn looked at her, his hand going back to his lap. For some reason, he actually looked embarrassed to be caught trying to rub his back.

"Um, yeah, it's been hurting for a couple of days now." He said awkwardly, and Rachel sat up a little. It wouldn't be too weird to ask, right?

"Do you want a massage? I'm pretty good at them according to Quinn." Rachel offered, as she put out her small hands as if that would prove to Finn just as talented she was with her hands. No pun intended, of course, Rachel thought to herself. Finn looked unsure; wondering if that would be crossing that invisible line they had created.

"You don't have to do that." he said, but Rachel shook her head, determined to do it now.

"No, I want to." She assured him, and with one shrug Rachel shifted to sit behind Finn, Finn moving forward a little to give her more space. Her hands met his shoulders, and Finn immediately closed his eyes, savoring the way Rachel's hands felt. He really liked having Rachel around; she was nice, pretty, smart, and she listened to what he had to say. She was a good cook, she was there for Finn when no one else was, and she wasn't snobby like Santana. Finn had never met someone like Rachel; she was unique, and Finn liked that about her.

Both Finn and Rachel quickly realized that the massage wouldn't do Finn any good if he had his shirt on. Rachel was too embarrassed to ask him to take it off, so Finn quickly took his shirt off without a word, Rachel moving her hands away so he can. Once his shirt was on the floor next to him, Rachel's hands went back to work, and Finn had to bite his lip to keep back a groan. Her skin felt _so good _against his; her hands were _so soft_, and Finn just wanted to live in them forever. That was one thing Santana never had; this skin. She never had this skin that just felt _so perfect _against Finn's or this smooth.

Rachel had to watch carefully where she put her hands; too low and she would be sending the wrong signals. Well, it wouldn't be the wrong signals from what she really wanted, but she knew that she had to keep Finn in the friend zone for his own good. She hoped this massage wasn't taking it too far.

It escaped Finn's mouth before he stop it; the moan. The loud, sexy moan made Rachel freeze completely. Finn's eyes blinked open, realizing what had just happened, and noticing that his pants were tighter then they should be. Too quickly, Finn stood up, truing to face Rachel in shock. He pulled his shirt back on, pulling it down to cover his arousal, hoping that Rachel hadn't noticed. She probably did though, because her eyes kept shifting from Finn's surprised face to that hardness in his pants. Dear God, why wouldn't she stop looking?

"I should go." Finn said, and Rachel stopped looking at his lower half and kept her eyes on his face, standing up too. "Thanks for the dinner Rachel. It was wonderful."

Rachel followed Finn as he quickly walked down to his jacket and the door, swinging it on. He silently reached for the doorknob, about to touch it when he turned back to Rachel. What happened next was something that sent electricity down Rachel's spine. Finn leaned down a little, his lips meeting Rachel's cheek for a light kiss. If Rachel didn't see him lean down to do it, she would have thought she imagined his soft lips. He stood at his full height again, gazing down at Rachel with that same weird expression. Rachel was too in shocked to say anything.

"Thank you Rachel. You've really done… a lot." Finn said quietly, and then he was leaving, the door closing behind him, leaving Rachel to think about what had just happened. She was sure she stood there for a long, long time.

FPFPFPFP

Finn was standing next to another boring painting when Puck walked up to him, pulling Finn out of his thoughts about Rachel.

"Hey dude. Did you have a good weekend?" Puck asked, and Finn stood up straighter, reliving his Friday night in his mind. Everything was going so perfectly between them, why did Finn have to mess it up with his raging sex hormones?

"Um, yeah, did you?" Finn asked, shaking his head from the memory. At the question, a smirk appeared on Puck's face.

"Boy did I ever! Dude, listen to this, I went to this strip club downtown with a friend, and there was this hot blonde dancing on the bar. She was like, the hottest chick I have ever seen! Anyway, I caught up with her later on as she was coming out the back door where I was smoking, and I started talking to her. Turns out, I was able to get her back to my apartment for the night. I think her name was Quinn or something like that."

Finn raised his eyebrows at him, not really caring about who Puck was hooking up with, but didn't want to be rude by saying he didn't care. Still, a hot blonde, yeah, maybe it was news worthy. But then something kicked in; a hot blonde named Quinn? He knew one of those, but it couldn't possibly be the same girl, could it? Just one look at Quinn, and you would know she's any kind of girl but the stripper kind.

"Quinn? Quinn Fabray?" Finn asked; he wanted to make sure before directly assuming it was the same girl. Puck smiled at him, pointing a finger.

"Yeah, that was her name! How did you know?" he said happily, and Finn starred at him.

"Dude, that's Rachel's best friend. Dude, that's Rachel's roommate." Finn told him, and Puck laughed at that.

"Hot; two sexy girls living together. Finn, you should ask Rachel if she, you know, ever had a thing with Quinn. You guys are close, right?" Puck asked with another smirk, and before Finn could answer, Puck kept talking. "Look, I'm having a little Poker's night tonight at my house. You're invited to come if you want. It was originally going to be only for guys, but Blaine was going to spend the night with Kurt who didn't have to work tonight, so it's changed to a 'bring a date thing'. "

Puck took a piece of paper out of his pocket, shoving it into Finn's hands before he could refuse it.

"That's my address. I heard about you and Santana breaking up, and I'm sorry dude. I'm not into that emotional stuff, so don't go crying on me and shit though. Just bring Rachel or something, okay?" Puck said and Finn could only nod his head. How did Puck hear about his break up with Santana? How did news travel so quickly, and did he know about the Brittany part? Finn guessed that taking two personal days might have had people talking, and coming to that assumption. If Finn didn't deny that he and Santana broke up now, then it must have been true.

"Okay, thanks. I'll come." Finn said, and with an awesome and a goodbye, Puck left him there to think things over.


	9. Keep Me in Your Arms

Rachel was sitting on the sofa, watching TV when Quinn walked in, bouncing up and down. She didn't even notice as Quinn sat down next to her, very excited.

"I got the night off from work today. Do you want to go out or something, just you and me, like old times." Quinn asked, and Rachel spared her a glance.

"I can't. Puck, someone who Finn works with, is having a poker's night at his house, and Finn invited me to join him." Rachel said, with her eyes glued to the TV. Quinn sat up at her words, panicking a little. There weren't too many Pucks in the city, were there? It wasn't a very common name.

"What's his last name? Puck, I mean." Quinn asked nervously.

"Puckerman is his last name, his first name is Noah, but everyone calls him Puck." Rachel said mindlessly, not knowing what the problem was. Yes, that Puck must have been the same one she slept with. How many people were named Noah but were called Puck? It wasn't a common nickname. Quinn starred at Rachel wondering if she should tell her about what had happened with Puck. No, Rachel wouldn't understand if she told her she slept with a complete stranger. It wasn't her fault she needed a good lay, she hadn't had one since Sam. That was a good excuse, right? And on top of that, Puck works with Finn? Well, that would be too awkward to tell Rachel. She wouldn't be able to look at Quinn or Puck the same way ever again.

"Oh, that's a strange name." Quinn noted, trying to sound casual. Rachel nodded her head in silent agreement. "So…you're spending another night with your new boyfriend, huh?"

"He is _not _my boyfriend! We're just good friends, is all." Rachel said with a roll of her eyes and a loud sigh. Quinn laughed at her, wondering if Rachel really was that blind to the truth.

"Sure he's not. But you want him to be." Quinn said with a knowing smile, and Rachel smacked her arm playfully. "Alright, alright, he's not your boyfriend!"

"Good." Rachel said, and Quinn's eyebrows scrunched together. So wait a second, Rachel was leaving Quinn alone on her day off to hang out with Finn? What happened to being best friends?

"So, you're just going to leave me here by myself while you go flirt with your future husband?" she asked, and Rachel nodded again, not even noticing that Quinn used the term "future husband". "Well, what am I supposed to do then?"

"I don't know." Rachel said with a shrug. "I guess you can come along if you want."

"No, I'll just watch a movie." Quinn said quickly. God, can you imagine? Quinn would then have no choice but to tell Rachel about what had happened with Puck, and Quinn was ignoring that conversation for as long as possible.

"Okay then. I should get going. I'm meeting Finn at his place." Rachel said, getting up and walking towards the door.

"Have fun with boyfriend!" Quinn yelled with smirk.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Rachel shouted at her as she closed the door.

FRFRFRFR

She knocked on the door twice, and waited patiently for Finn to answer. It was few seconds before she heard footsteps, and the door opened, revealing Finn. He looked disgruntled, and the sleeve of his shirt was hanging off, but all the same, he looked happy to see Rachel. Finn let Rachel into the apartment, and her eyes set on the messy apartment. Things had been turned over, and the closet in the hall was opened with things tumbling out of it like a mountain.

"Did a tornado attack your apartment?" Rachel asked, turning to Finn who was opening a drawer on the table next to the door. He looked up at her, his eyes shifting back to the open drawer.

"What? Oh, no. I'm trying to find my poker chips. Puck called me and told me I had to bring them because his cousin was borrowing his. Problem is; I can't find mine." Finn told her, walking past her and down the hall into his bedroom. Rachel watched him go, wondering if it would be okay if she followed. What would his bedroom look like? Would Rachel be able to control herself if she saw Finn in his bedroom all alone? She hoped so, since she was walking down the hallway and into his room. It looked like the average guy room; blue comforter, messy bed, clothes coming out of his closet. It was a regular man's room.

"I know I had them here somewhere." Finn said with his head in the closet. Rachel awkwardly sat on his bed, still looking around. It was like the more she looked around, the more Rachel had to memorize. Friends did that, right, memorized what their friend's bedrooms looked like?

"You must have lost it." Rachel said, because it looked like Finn wasn't going to admit it. His head reappeared from the closet, and he joined Rachel on the bed, breathing loudly.

"Well, what am I supposed to do? They don't just sell poker chips anywhere, you know." Finn said, and Rachel bit her lip in thought. She remembered that time she was on vacation with her family, and they wanted to play some poker, and went to about every store on the boardwalk, but not one place had poker chips. What did they use again to play?

"We could stop at the CVS and pick up Starbursts. My family used those once. There are four colors, so we can have a different color for each coin, and they're edible so they make a tasty treat for later." Rachel said, hoping Finn wouldn't think the idea was stupid. His eyes met hers, and he was giving Rachel that look again that she didn't understand. Why did he keep looking at her like that?

"That's…a really good idea." Finn said slowly, smiling at Rachel. She returned his smile, relieved. Rachel just got more and more interesting in Finn's eyes. Starbursts as poker chips are something that Santana would have never thought of. In fact, if Santana were in this situation instead of Rachel, she probably would have snapped at Finn for being so stupid as to lose his poker chips, and then storm off back to her own apartment.

"Thanks! We'll just walk past the CVS down the street, pick them up, and then go over to Puck's." Rachel said, and they both got up, leaving the apartment to go to the CVS.

FRFRFRFR

Rachel was fingering one of the big bags of Starburst, wondering how many bags she needed when Finn snuck up one her, scaring her. She smacked his arm as he laughed.

"That was now funny!" she told him, but Finn kept laughing, and then she joined in. Rachel had to remind herself not to stare at Finn laughing for too long or he would notice. "I think I'll get two big bags just to be safe."

"Okay." Finn said happily, wrapping his arms around Rachel's waist before he realized what he was doing. He was about to pull back because Finn was sure Rachel wouldn't be cool with this, but before he could, he felt her hands touch his arms, keeping him there. She liked the way his chest pressed against her back, and Rachel had to bite her lip so she could hold back a moan. They were being friendly; friends put their arms around each other. Rachel grabbed the two bags of Starburst, reluctantly falling out of Finn's grasp and walking down the aisle with him in tow. She pulled out her wallet at the cash register, ready to pay for it, when she saw Finn put his own money on the counter.

"This is kind of my fault so it's only right if I pay for them." He told her, and Rachel didn't even fight with him as she put her money back. If Finn wanted to be a gentleman, who was she to stop him?

The walk to Puck's was a long one, and Finn held the bag in his hand, swinging it back and forth. Rachel glanced down at it, and then looked up at Finn.

"Having fun?" she asked with a smile, and Finn smiled back, telling her he was. Finally, with Rachel's feet in pain, they made it to Puck's apartment door, Finn knocking a couple of times before Puck opened it.

"Finn, Rachel! You made it! Did you bring the poker chips?" Puck asked, letting them in. Rachel snuck a glance into the kitchen where she saw a group of men surrounding a table. In the living room was a group of girls and a man sprawled on couch, watching a movie.

"Yeah man, about that. I couldn't find my poker chips, so Rachel and I stopped at the CVS to pick up bags of Starburst. We figured, well, Rachel figured actually, that we could just use these as poker chips…if that's okay with you." Finn explained nervously, hoping Puck didn't think they were crazy or anything.

"Well, Finn paid for them, so it wasn't like he didn't do anything." Rachel said, flashing Finn a nervous smile, which he quickly returned. Puck watched the two of them interact with a smirk.

"Yeah, but it was your idea." Finn said, and Rachel felt herself going a little red. Puck cleared his throat, and Finn and Rachel both realized that he was still there.

"Starbursts; I like it Rachel. It'll be good for later too." Puck said, smiling at the two of them. They both smiled back, and then shared their own secret smile as Puck took the bag from Finn and led them to the kitchen. "You can join us Rachel, if you want. Not all the girls want to play poker, so they're just watching a movie."

"No, I'll play with you guys. I love poker, used to play it all the time with my relatives." She said, and joined Finn at the table with the other guys.

"Rachel, this is Mike, Andrew, Matt, Dave, and you already met Blaine." Finn introduced, all of the guys nodding towards Rachel when their name were said. Rachel smiled at each of them, trying to remember when she had met Blaine.

"It's good to see you again, Rachel. Kurt talks about how awesome you were at the bar all of the time. He's in the other room, just so you know." Blaine explained, and Rachel smiled politely at him. She remembered Blaine now! His boyfriend, Kurt, was the one she had been dancing with. Wow; that felt like such a long time ago. Finn and Santana had still been together at the time. Puck dumped the bags of Starburst out in front of Finn and Rachel with his signature smirk as the rest of the guys wore curious looks.

"Finn and Rachel got us Starbursts as poker chips, so they get to have the honor of sorting them out." Puck said, and Rachel looked down at the pile of colorful candy. They had to separate all that? Maybe this Starburst as poker chips wasn't a very good idea after all.

FRFRFRFR

After they were finally done with sorting out the candy (reds being quarters, yellows being nickels, and pinks being dimes with the oranges on the side for anyone who was hungry), they started playing. Finn quickly found that Rachel knew exactly what she was doing, instantly winning everyone's Starbursts. Puck was obviously taken by surprise as Rachel pushed some of his in her direction with a smirk on her face.

"I think Rachel's cheating." Mike announced, walking over to the plate of orange Starbursts for another one. He popped it into his mouth as Rachel gaped at him.

"I am not! I play by the rules, thank you very much!" Rachel said with her head held high. Finn scoffed, giving her a love tap over the head at her words.

"Why did you have to bring your girlfriend, Finn? I would still have some candy if it wasn't for her!" Dave said, as he gestured to the four pieces of Starbursts he had left. Rachel glanced at his almost empty space, smirking. It wasn't that she was really good at poker, it was just these guys weren't.

"Oh, Rachel's not my girlfriend." Finn said quickly, shaking his head and laughing uncomfortably. Rachel joined in after a moment, wishing that she indeed was. Hey, what can you do? If Finn wanted nothing more from Rachel then friendship, then friendship was what she would give him. Puck watched the two of them interact, wondering if they knew what he knew. "We're just good friends."

"Right, because I always bring my 'good friends' to poker games when the rest of the guys are bringing their girlfriends." Matt said, air quoting the good friends part, while taking another peek at his cards. The rest of the guys smiled, and Rachel shifted in her seat, waiting for Finn to say something. Could they please just get back to the game, and leave her and Finn alone?

"Let's get back to the game, okay?" Finn said, being Rachel's savior. The others looked like they wanted to carry out the conversation longer for a second, but then Puck cleared his throat again and they went back to looking at their cards.

FRFRFRFR

"Thanks for coming, guys! It was good seeing you Rachel." Puck said as Rachel pulled on her coat. The rest of the party had already left and all that was left was Finn and Rachel with a full bag of Starbursts in their hands. "Enjoy the Starbursts!"

"Oh, we will! And thanks Noah, for inviting us I mean." Rachel said as Finn joined at the front door, his jacket already on. Puck shook his head at her.

"No problem. And don't call me that, call me Puck my hot Jewish princess." Puck told Rachel, making her smile. Puck had found out that Rachel was Jewish during the game, much to Finn's interest, and she and Puck seemed to bond over the same religion. Finn almost felt like a third wheel as they talked about temple. Of course, it wasn't like when Santana and Brittany excluded him, this time around, Puck mentioned to Finn that marrying a girl of a different religion was a lot hotter than marrying a girl of the same religion. Not that that made much sense, but Finn figured Puck just wanted to make fun of his and Rachel's relationship a little bit more.

"Yeah, thanks for inviting us Puck." Finn said, and Rachel took his hand subconsciously, leading Puck outside of the apartment and into the cool, night air. Puck waved to them.

"No problem. I'm thinking about doing this again another time. You guys will come, right?" Puck said, looking from Finn to Rachel. Finn looked down at Rachel, waiting to confirm with her. He hoped they were still hanging out when that did happen; Finn didn't want to lose Rachel now that he had her.

"Sure. We'll be there." Rachel confirmed, smiling at Puck. He flashed a grin and said his last goodbye before the pairing walked down the steps and onto the sidewalk. Finn noticed that Rachel was still holding onto his hand, but he didn't say anything, wanting the moment to last. It wasn't too hot or too cold out; perfect for a walk. Neither of them found the need to talk, both were enjoying themselves in their own little worlds too much to bother. Finn couldn't get over how perfectly Rachel's small hand fit into his big one; it was almost as if her hand was made to be in his.

"So what are we going to do with all these Starbursts?" Finn asked, holding the bag up. The rest of the Starbursts had been divided up between the guys, Puck giving Finn and Rachel the most since they bought them. Rachel looked at the bag, but was giving Finn's face much more attention.

"I don't know. You can keep them since you were the one who actually bought them." Rachel said, looking at the busy street. Finn put his hand down, looking down at the Starbursts.

"I know you like them a lot, I watched you sneaking an orange one into your mouth like, every other minute." Finn said with a smile, earning a slap on the shoulder from Rachel. "You're so abusive!"

"I am not!" Rachel said with a laugh. "And I was not eating a Starburst every other minute!"

"Fine, every five minutes." Finn said, and Rachel scoffed. Every five minutes? Yeah right, she wasn't even that big of a fan of Starbursts. A curious thought crossed her mind.

"Why were you watching me anyway? Why weren't your eyes always on your cards? Someone could be sneaking a peek you know, maybe I was." Rachel said playfully, and Finn glanced at her, a small smile playing on his lips. How could he explain why his eyes were glued to Rachel the entire time?

"I knew you were looking at my cards. No wonder you won." He said, and Rachel gave him another smack on the shoulder with a laugh. He seemed to skip over the first question, but Rachel wasn't going to bring it up again. She would just sound too desperate if she did.

"Shut up. You're just a sore loser, that's what you are." Rachel told him, and Finn looked down at her, that special smile very still on his face. There he was, giving her _that _look again, that one that she couldn't figure out. Something about that look always had Rachel feeling so good, always had her feel so warm, and full of life. But why did he keep looking at her like that?

"So…how's Quinn?" Finn asked, because things had gone strangely silent between them as they just stared at each other. Rachel shook her head to clear her thoughts, trying to keep up with Finn's fast pace. His legs were much longer then hers, and when he easily walked, she had to move quickly.

"Quinn's fine. She had tonight off, and she wanted to hang out with me but I already had plans with you." Rachel said, wondering what had made Finn change subjects to this. Finn looked down at her, feeling a little bad for Quinn.

"Oh, I'm sorry. If I had known then…." But Finn didn't finish the rest of his sentence, because he honestly didn't know how he would have ended it. How was he supposed to know about Quinn anyway?

"It's okay; she was just going to pop in a DVD." Rachel told him, and Finn nodded, remembering why he brought up Quinn in the first place. Finn didn't know how he was going to put this, but he felt like Rachel had to know none of the less. The only question was how he was going to bring it up.

"Where does Quinn work exactly?" Finn asked with a fake tone of curiosity. Of course, he already knew where Quinn worked, thanks to Puck, but Rachel didn't know about that. Boy, would she freak out when she heard about this. Rachel looked very uncomfortable at this question, wondering if she should tell the truth about Quinn's work. Finn was a good friend though, and he had proven to be trustful, so why not? Quinn surely wouldn't mind, right?

"She, um, she works at a strip club for the time being. You know, until she can find a better job. She hates working there though." Rachel sputtered out, hoping Finn wouldn't judge Quinn by her job. He looked weirdly calm though when she answered him, only nodding his head as if hearing that being a stripper was a regular job that everyone did.

"That's interesting. So does she, like, ever get together with her customers or anything?" Finn asked, hoping he sounded casual about it. Rachel gave him a curious look, wondering what Finn was trying to get to. He wasn't thinking about going there, was he? Rachel's heart dropped to her stomach at the thought of Finn being surrounded by girls in nothing but sexy lingerie.

"No, Quinn's not like that. Why? What have you heard?" Rachel asked suspiciously, eyeing Finn. He scratched the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable. Rachel probably thought he was some sort of pervert or something, wanting to get into Quinn's pants.

"Well, because Puck told me this story about how he went to a strip club and saw Quinn working there." Finn hesitated with his story, glancing down at Rachel with an expression he couldn't read. He quickly went on. "And according to him, he caught up with Quinn, and then you know, had a sleepover."

The look on Rachel's face told Finn that telling her about Puck and Quinn's relations was not a good idea. She looked frozen with shock, trying to figure out how that had happened. Quinn wasn't the type of girl to just go sleeping around with strangers, especially strangers like Puck. What was she thinking? Didn't she realize how dangerous that could have been? What if Puck was a mass murderer who lured lonely woman into his house, making them think they were going to have sex, but really kill them? What if that had been the situation?

"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have told you that." Finn said, wishing he could take those words. Shit, he shouldn't have told her that. Shit, look out how angry she looks. Rachel quickly shook her head at him though.

"No, it's not your fault. It's Quinn I'm upset with, not you. Thank you for telling me Finn." Rachel said in a low voice. And then there was the issue that it had been Puck that Quinn slept with, out of all people. Just the thought of those two going at it had Rachel shudder. That was just a thought she did not want to think about.

"Well, here we are." Finn finally said, stopping in front of Rachel's apartment building. Rachel focused back on what was happing with Finn, forgetting about Puck and Quinn quickly. She thought about saying goodbye to Finn, and immediately wished she didn't have to.

"Here we are. Thank you, Finn. It was really nice of you to invite me." Rachel said, facing Finn and smiling at him. "And as a token of my thanks, I want you to keep the Starbursts. Even though, you know, you paid for it."

Finn smiled at the way she said, a strange feeling in his stomach.

"Fine, I'll take them, but I won't eat them unless you're there." Finn told her, leaning down a little so he could feel her breathe against his neck. Rachel laughed a little, swinging her hands by hers sides. Finn wondered if they could just stay in this moment forever, without having to say goodbye.

"Well, I should go." Rachel finally said, nodding her head towards the door. Finn looked at the door, then back at Rachel, sighing loudly.

"Right, yeah, I'll call you tomorrow then." Finn said, as Rachel opened the door. She looked back at him, a sparkle in her eye.

"Okay, I'll wait for you to call." She told him, and Finn smiled at her, walking down the front stairs. "Have a good night, Finn."

"Good night, Rachel." He said, and then Rachel closed the door, turning her back to it and sighing deeply. Yes, tonight had been a very good night, a very good night indeed. And Rachel found herself excited to get that phone call from Finn, a reminder that he had not forgotten about her. But as much as she wanted to stay in this blissful moment, Rachel had other things to take care of.

RQRQRQRQ

The apartment was quiet and dark when Rachel entered, voices and a light glow coming from the living room. Rachel slowly walked towards the room, not wanting to turn on a light as to wake Quinn, so being careful not to step on anything or run into a wall. In the living room, Quinn was lying on the couch with the covers over her body, sound asleep. Rachel watches her with a smile on her face, almost entirely forgetting about what Finn told her about Puck. And then she snapped out of it, walking over to Quinn and nudging her shoulder lightly. Quinn stirred in her sleep, murmuring some words Rachel couldn't make out. She nudged her a little harder, and very slowly, Quinn rubs at her eyes and sits up, looking up at Rachel.

"Did I fall asleep?" Quinn asked in a sleepy voice, and Rachel sat down next to her on the sofa, pulling the covers over her.

"I guess so." Rachel said, glancing at the TV to see what Quinn feel asleep to. "The Nanny was on?"

"It was the episode where they get married." She said with a yawn. "How was poker night with Finny?"

Rachel smiled at the nickname, having once again, to remind herself to not fall into a daydream featuring Finn.

"It was good. I had a really nice time." Rachel said, and then bit her lip, figuring that she might as well not beat around the bush and get to the bottom of things. "I heard this really interesting story from Finn starring you and Noah Puckerman."

Quinn's eyes went wide at Rachel's words, gulping loudly. How did Rachel find out? How did Finn find out? Did she know what Quinn thought she knew? How could she know, unless Puck went around telling random people about his sex life? Rachel watched with amusement as Quinn tried to hide her panic as calmness.

"Oh, is that so? What happened in this story?" Quinn asked, making sure to not look Rachel straight in _the_ face. If she looked Rachel straight in the eye, she would know that Quinn was lying. Rachel would know that Quinn knew what she was talking about.

"Well, Puck went to the strip club, saw this very attractive blonde there, who he was able to persuade into spending the night at his house where they did many…activities." Rachel said, smirking at Quinn on the last word. Quinn shifted her eyes to floor, Rachel practically burning a hole in her skin just by staring at her. What she had done with Puck wasn't her at all. It was a onetime thing. It was a desperate need for sex that took Quinn over, forcing her to go to Puck's apartment. She wasn't the kind of person who just slept with the first hot guy she saw, Rachel knew that. "Is this true?"

"It didn't mean anything!" Quinn quickly said, but Rachel stood, her hands thrown into the air.

"I can't believe you would do that Quinn!" Rachel shouted, glaring down at Quinn. She looked like a little kid who had gotten in trouble with her mom, and Rachel had to force herself to not feel bad for her. "Do you have _any _idea how dangerous that was! You didn't even know who Puck was, and you just decided to hook up with him? How could you be so _stupid?_"

"I'm-I'm sorry." Quinn stuttered out, her words caught in her throat. She stood up to her full length, taller than Rachel. "I know I was stupid, okay? It was completely inappropriate and dangerous, and I promise I'll never do something like that ever again!"

Rachel stared at her, reading Quinn's face. Was she sorry? Quinn looked sorry, and Rachel knew that Quinn wasn't that kind of girl. It was a little stupid, really, to get angry with Quinn for sleeping with someone. She didn't deserve hate for that, Rachel supposed.

"Just…don't do it again, okay? It scared me there, when I first found out." Rachel said with a shaky breathe, and Quinn nodded her head silently. "Good. Now, let's go to bed because I'm really tired, and obviously, you are too."


	10. I Could be Your Inspiration

**Love makes you not hate things. You can hate things, but you choose to love because you are in love. Love is the opposite of hate. Without hate, there is no love. **

**-my dad (53)**

The door was opened already when Quinn came rushing down the hallway, shoving her flats onto her feet with her hair covering her face. Rachel smiled at her, holding back a laugh as she leaned against the door, patiently waiting for Quinn. They were supposed to be meeting Finn at the Dunkin' Donuts for a Saturday around New York, and Finn had asked Quinn to come along, who he hadn't seen in a long time. Of course, Quinn was still half asleep from the night before, but had insisted to Rachel that she was coming. They were planning on doing many things, and Quinn didn't want to miss one of them.

"Are you ready now?" Rachel asked as she stepped outside the opened door as Quinn pulled her hair out of her face, standing up straight. She blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face, and smiled for Rachel.

"Yes. Let's go." Quinn said, following Rachel out of the apartment. The two of them walked down to the Dunkin' Donuts where Finn was standing outside with a leather jacket on. Rachel had to stop her jaw from dropping, and the drool from falling out of her mouth. She had never seen Finn in a leather jacket before, and he just didn't seem like the bad boy stereotype. Maybe he wasn't, maybe the leather jacket was just Finn thinking it looked cool, but it really had nothing to with who he was as a person. Yeah, that seemed more likely than some bad boy alias with a motorcycle, but Rachel wouldn't mind a version of bad boy Finn at all.

"Morning Rachel, Quinn!" he welcomed them cheerfully, giving Quinn one of his typical smiles and then giving Rachel that smile that Quinn noted he only gave to Rachel. She wondered if Rachel noticed this.

"Good morning Finn." Rachel said before Quinn could answer. Quinn was starting to doubt coming along at all; Finn and Rachel kept giving each other that look that made Quinn feel like an awkward third wheel. Maybe this wasn't the greatest idea.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Finn said, suddenly getting excited as he put his hand into one of the pockets of his hot leather jacket, pulling out a small plastic bag. Quinn wasn't sure what was in it, or why it was getting Finn so excited. "I brought some of them for us to eat on the way."

Finn pulled small, colorful squares out of the bag, revealing what looked like to Quinn Starbursts. What was so wonderful about Starbursts? But Rachel's eyes had lit up when she saw them, immediately taking one from Finn's hand and putting it in her mouth while shoving the wrapper into her pocket. He held them out to Quinn, who wasn't that big of a fan of Starbursts to begin with, but decided to be nice and take one of them anyway.

"So what's so great about Starbursts?" Quinn asked, glad that she got the pink one. Finn and Rachel looked at each other before turning to Quinn, wondering how they should explain this.

"When Finn and I went to the pokers night, we used Starbursts as poker chips because we couldn't find Finn's poker chips." Rachel explained, smiling at Finn as she did. Quinn nodded her head at them, distinctively remembering one time where she went on vacation with Rachel's family and they used Starbursts as poker ships.

"Should we get going then; there's lots to see." Quinn said, taking both Finn and Rachel out of their trance which included them smiling and staring at each other. Yep, if Quinn wanted to get through this day, she would have to keep bringing Finn and Rachel back to reality. Rachel shook her head, trying to concentrate.

"Yeah, we should. Right, well, lead the way Finn. You said over the phone that you wanted to bring us somewhere." Rachel said, and with a grin on his face, Finn started walking in the opposite direction, Rachel and Quinn in tow.

"That's right. There's this little bakery that I used to go to when I first moved to the city. They have all kinds of things there, and I haven't gone there in a long time. Santana never wanted to go with me, but it seems like the kind of place you would appreciate Rachel." Finn told them, turning a corner. Rachel followed him with a slight smile, happy that Finn thought a cute, little bakery that he used to go to would be her kind of thing. Sure, Rachel hadn't really been to many bakeries in her life, but she had no problem with starting now. "Did you guys eat breakfast?"

"Right before we left actually. I have room for a muffin or something though." Quinn answered before Rachel could. Rachel was glad to find that it wasn't too long of a walk to the bakery, and stepping inside, the scent of bread instantly filled Rachel's nose. She had never smelled something so delicious and wonderful, making her crave food.

Finn led them to a busy line of people in front of the counter, some people looking into a glass case. Finn, Rachel, and Quinn leaned over to look into the case, where Rachel saw just about every treat she could think of. Cupcakes with lemon frosting, zucchini and banana chocolate chip bread, ginger snap, blueberry crumb cake, cinnamon raisin cookie sandwiches, pumpkin spice muffins, brownies, macaroons, warm apple pie, and the menu went on and on. Everything smelled so perfect Rachel didn't know what to get. All she did was stand there and look at everything, wondering what would taste the best.

"What do you guys think?" Finn asked excitedly, and Rachel couldn't even answer. Quinn did first, pointing to one of the cinnamon swirl buns like she was a toddler.

"That! I want that!" she said, not even answering Finn's question, but only rushing to join the line of people waiting to pay, taking out her wallet. Finn and Rachel watched her with a smile, and then Finn turned to Rachel.

"What do you want?" he asked, and Rachel immediately thought of what she _really _wanted. Of course, that wasn't what Finn meant by the question, but he was standing right there, looking so perfect like always. Except the difference now was that the smell of the bakery was making everything seem better than it really was, and Rachel found herself leaning towards Finn on her tippy toes.

"Rachel! What are you getting?" Quinn shouted, seeing what Rachel was doing. Snapping out of it, Rachel pulled back from Finn, who seemed oblivious to what she was trying to do. Rachel cleared her throat, very embarrassed for _almost _trying to kiss Finn. She had to watch herself from now on; no more massages, no more of his arms around her, and no more flirting. Rachel might be out of the clear of being the Dunkin' Donuts girl since Santana's gone, but she didn't want to lose what she and Finn had now. Rachel turned back to the bakery foods, turning red.

"Um, I think I'll have one of those chocolate croissants." Rachel mumbled, saying the first thing that came to her mind. Finn gave her one of those smiles that he always gave her before she went to stand on line, her face still hot red. Rachel couldn't believe she almost did that; what was she thinking? She couldn't kiss Finn; Rachel had to keep these feelings under control if she and Finn were going to be friends.

Finn joined Rachel on line, and Rachel tried to ignore his tall figure behind her short one. It took forever for her to get to the front of the counter, and when she did, she quickly ordered, waiting anxiously for the croissant to be ready. When it was, she handed over the money, and went over to join Quinn by one of the tables near the front window. Finn quickly joined them as Quinn gave Rachel a look that plainly said "I know what you were trying to do back there."

"What did you get, Finn?" Rachel asked as she pulled the croissant out of the small, brown bag. Quinn was already munching on her cinnamon swirl when they sat down, looking from Rachel to Finn and back again.

"I got a begette. I used to always get this when I came here." Finn said, pulling out a long roll of Italian bread. Rachel smiled at him as he took a bite, clearly enjoying the taste. "Oh, how I've missed this."

"When was the last time you were here?" Quinn asked as Rachel took a bite of her croissant, not even believing that this was actually how it tasted. It was perfect; there was just enough chocolate in it. Rachel completely understood now why Finn liked this place so much.

"I think it was around the time I first met Santana, which would have been a little more than a year ago. Like I said, Santana never wanted to come here; she said it wasn't her kind of scene." Finn explained, and he couldn't help but notice another negative side to dating Santana. They kept adding up recently.

"It's Santana's loss. The food here is delicious!" Rachel said, taking another bite greedily. Finn looked around the bakery with a smile on his face, agreeing with her. It was too bad he never brought Santana here, although she probably wouldn't enjoy it as much as Rachel did.

"Rachel, don't you think it's time you auditioned for another Broadway show? I'm sure you can get if you kept trying." Finn asked suddenly, reminding Rachel of her failure of a dream. She had always wanted to be a Broadway star, ever since she was a little girl, and she had a remarkable voice, but things just weren't going her way.

"I don't know Finn. I have a life now; a job, an apartment to pay for, friends. I can't get caught up in silly school girl dreams anymore. I think it's time I grew up and started taking life seriously. How many people actually make it in showbiz anyway? Not that many. The world needs people to make their coffee at Dunkin' Donuts." Rachel said, looking down at her food and playing with the hem of her skirt. She didn't like talking about this; it made her feel uncomfortable. Broadway just wasn't for her, and the sooner Rachel accepted that, the sooner she can get on with her life. Yeah, she had a dream in high school, but that was in high school. That was before Rachel became less of a drama queen, and before she was given serious responsibilities.

"The world also needs people on the Broadway stage, singing their hearts out. People need someone to look up to as a role model, someone to entertain them." Finn said, trying to meet Rachel's eyes. He took one of her hands into his own, Quinn watching the interaction silently. "Look Rachel, I don't know much about Broadway. I never saw one of the shows for as long as I've lived in New York, but I do know about musical talent. And the thing about musical talent is that you _need _to act on it, because singing and playing an instrument is something everyone wishes they could do. So for those people who are lucky enough to have that talent should show it to the world, not hide behind a counter and make egg and cheese sandwiches every day."

"What do you know about musical talent Finn? Do you have one of your own?" Quinn asked suddenly right before Rachel could respond to Finn. Finn looked up at Quinn, remembering that she was there, still holding on to Rachel's small hand. Rachel hoped he wouldn't pull his hand away from hers.

"I know some. Ever since I was a little kid I've always had thing for the drums. I played in a band in high school, we were pretty good." Finn said, and Rachel raised her eyebrows at him, impressed. She would have never taken Finn to be the drummer type. Maybe that explained the leather jacket.

"Really? Do you still play?" Rachel asked excitedly, leaning in to hear Finn's answer. He just became more and more amazing the more Rachel learned about him. Finn didn't know that Rachel would find this feature about him so fascinating, if he had, then he would have brought it up sooner.

"I do sometimes. I have my old drum set in the laundry room of my apartment. Sometimes I'll just sit there and play for a while. It's the only thing I can actually do well, and feel good doing." He said, and Rachel squeezed his hand unintentionally. Finn smiled at her again.

"Have you ever thought about making a career out of it?" Quinn asked, and Finn looked at her, his eyebrows pulled together.

"I've thought about it a couple of times, but what kind of places hire a drummer anyway? What are they needed for other then bands? And most bands don't even make it in the musical world, anyway." Finn said, bringing his attention back to his food. He had let go of Rachel's hand now, and she restrained herself for reaching for it again. That wasn't fair; why should Rachel go for her practically impossible dreams when Finn didn't? If she was going to make her dreams come true, then Finn was going to too.

"Here you are giving me a lecture about how everyone needs a star or something like that, and you're just sitting here saying it's impossible to be the drummer of a famous band. If I can accomplish my dreams, then why can't you accomplish yours?" Rachel pressed on; obviously putting Finn in a position he didn't want to be in. This was supposed to be about Rachel, not him.

"Because you're smarter than me, and more talented, and you're pretty. I'm just me, I'm nothing. I'm like, a lost puppy in New York or something. I don't know what I want from life or from anyone. I don't know what I'm doing." Finn said honestly, hating to admit the truth, but knowing it was right. In all his life, Finn had never known what he was doing. His entire life was just him doing what others told him to do; be the popular guy, play on the football team, date a Cheerio. His life was run by other people; Finn's life had always been run by the status quo. And then he graduated from high school, and went to college, and suddenly, Finn's life was in his hands and he had to make all these important decisions. He was lost and confused, and he still is.

"Let me ask you this Finn? Do you love playing the drums?" Rachel asked softly, taking the chance and holding onto Finn's hand tightly. Finn thought for a long second, staring out the window at the people passing by.

"Yes." He said quietly, and Rachel bit her lip. That was the first step to finding a dream, and Finn was on the right track.

"Can you picture your life always playing the drums? Do you want to do it forever?" she asked as Quinn watched for Finn's response. They both leaned in to hear Finn's answer, this time the silence was shorter and Finn sounded surer when he answered.

"Yes." He repeated, and Rachel and Quinn shared a look. Finn and Rachel's eyes met, and he said it again. "Yes."

"Then you have to go for it. You have to take a chance and audition for a band." Rachel told him, and the silence dragged on after that, Finn thinking hard about what Rachel had said. Yes, it would be awesome to be in a band, especially a successful one. It had always been something Finn thought about doing, but never deciding to act on it. Maybe he should audition for a band, but then Finn remembered why he brought up this discussion in the first place.

"Wait a second; we're supposed to be talking about _your _dream Rachel! Not mine!" Finn accused her, and Rachel gave him a guilty smile. Okay, so at first she was trying to distract Finn from talking about her and Broadway, but she had seriously become interested in Finn's dream of drumming. She very much wanted to see him play the drums now.

"Okay, I'll think about auditioning for another play." Rachel said, thinking that she might actually act on it besides just saying it. Both Finn and Quinn grinned at her, making her smile. She looked down at her food, noticing that all of them had finished their food now.

"Do you guys want to get going? I have a lot of other things I want us to do." Finn said, gesturing to the front door of the bakery. They threw out their garbage and headed to the front door, following Finn down the street. Rachel didn't care where exactly they were going, just as long as Finn was there.

FSFSFSFS

Rachel's feet were killing her after stopping at the most touristy spots in New York; the Disney store, the Hershey store, the M&M store, Central Park, a bunch of little shops that Rachel and Quinn didn't even know about, and some museums that Finn _didn't _work at. They were planning on checking out where the Christmas tree was being set up later on, but right now, Rachel and Quinn were too busy making Finn suffer through the process of shopping at Tiffany's. Sure, Rachel wasn't going to buy anything, but she couldn't help but keep eyeing that silver amethyst necklace. Finn must have noticed after a while, because he stood next to her and peered at it with her.

"That's pretty. Are you going to get it?" he asked, scaring Rachel, who put her hand over her heart in surprise. He started laughing, earning a smack on the arm from Rachel.

"You always scare me like that!" Rachel said angrily, but still smiling at him. Finn's laughs faded away, and he looked back at the necklace. "No, I don't think so. I can't afford it, but I wish I could."

"That's too bad." Finn said quietly, and they were like that for a few minutes; quiet, both gazing down at the amethyst necklace and how the purple in it shined so beautifully. Quinn came rushing up to them, out of breathe and holding a silver charm bracelet.

"That's pretty. Are you getting it?" Rachel asked, pointing to the bracelet. Quinn looked from the bracelet to Rachel, not having time to think about the piece of jewelry.

"Yeah, I think so. Anyway, that's not what's important. We have to go _now._" Quinn said, her voice getting very hard when she said the last word, giving Rachel a knowing look. Finn and Rachel looked around in confusion.

"Why? What's wrong?" Rachel asked, but then Finn's eyes went wide, and he was staring at something on the other side of the store. Rachel saw where his eyes landed and followed them, narrowing in on two women looking at diamonds. One had blonde hair and the other had straight black hair. The woman with the black hair turned around so Rachel could see her face, and she took in her dark skin, instantly knowing who she was.

"I'm sorry Finn. I had no idea they were going to be here. If I had known, I wouldn't have brought this place up." Quinn said in a rush, but Finn just shook her head at her, his face looking like stone. What were the chances of seeing Santana Lopez here out of all people, and with her girlfriend? This couldn't have been happening!

But then the two girls were making their way towards the three of them, Santana's eyes only on Finn. Rachel shifted from foot to foot awkwardly, Quinn looking quickly from Finn to Santana while biting her lower lip.

"Finnessa, how have you been? Didn't expect you to be here?" Santana asked as she finally stopped in front of them, smirking at Finn. Rachel didn't understand how she could be so calm about this; didn't she feel any remorse for what she had done? The last time her and Finn had seen each other, they were having a yelling competition. But now, Santana was acting like they were old friends or something.

"I'm here with Rachel and Quinn. We're visiting all of New York today." He told Santana, showing no emotion. Rachel wondered if seeing Finn still caused him pain, and then thought about how stupid it was to think that; of course seeing Santana caused him pain! She broke his heart! She also wondered if Finn still had feelings for Santana; that might break her heart. For the first time, Santana and Brittany looked at Rachel and Quinn, giving them a look that made Rachel shrink a little in size.

"Oh, so now you spend your time with the Dunkin' Donuts girls? Wow Finn, I didn't know our breakup hit you so hard that you've gone as low as to hang out with women who can't even afford something from Tiffany's." Santana said, making Finn look down at the floor, slightly embarrassed. It wasn't that bad to hang out with Rachel and Quinn, was it? They were nice people, not everything was about how much money you had. Santana turned to Rachel and Quinn with that same mean smirk on her face. "Can you two even afford anything here?"

Rachel bit her lip, her mind going to that amethyst necklace. Why did Santana have to make her feel so bad about herself anyway?

"You know Santana; I don't remember you being this mean when you were with Finn." Rachel pointed out, giving Santana a fake smile. Finn looked up at Rachel then, giving her a grateful smile. Rachel returned it before directing her attention back on Santana. "I hope you remember who made you all those breakfasts day after day."

"And you better remember who gave you the money to keep your crappy apartment, dwarf." Santana snapped back, not affecting at all by Rachel's words. Finn looked up at Santana then, something burning in his eyes.

"Her name is Rachel, and you better be nice to her Santana, because someday, she's going to be on Broadway." Finn said, making Rachel look up at his with surprise. Did she hear that correctly? Did Finn really say that Rachel was going to be on Broadway someday? Santana only snorted at his response, giving Rachel a look that only said she was judging her.

"This girl is going to be star one day? Yeah right!" she said. Her blonde friend, who Rachel guessed could only be Brittany, only stood there, swinging her purse around, her attention on a huge diamond on display. Finn's eyes narrowed in on Santana, and Rachel was taken by surprise at his expression. She had never seen him look so mean.

"I think you should go Santana. No one here really wants to see you anyway." Finn said, and Santana let out a short laugh before turning half way on them.

"That's fine by me. I'll leave you and your new _girlfriend_ alone Finnessa." Santana said, glaring at Rachel at the word girlfriend. Finn let out a loud sigh as did Rachel when she said that, Quinn only trying to hide a small smile. Why did people keep thinking that Finn and Rachel were together?

"Rachel is not my girlfriend!" Finn practically shouted, trying to keep his temper under control. He forgot how unnerving and just plain mean Santana could be. Santana snorted as he said this.

"Yeah, and I'm not the hottest piece of shit in this place!" she said, and with those last words, Santana and Brittany turned around and left Finn to regain his temper and calm down. Rachel's hand immediately went to Finn's shoulder, rubbing at it.

"I'm sorry that happened Finn. I know that must have been hard for you." Rachel said understandingly, still rubbing his shoulder like she did that time she first found out Santana had cheated on him. Finn only shook his head, staring at the floor.

"No, it was fine. It was what I needed. I'm over Santana. I have the feeling I was never really in love with her in the first place. Yes, I loved her, but I wasn't in love with her. I mean, yeah, she's hot, but just because a girl's hot, doesn't mean you actually like her." Finn said, and Rachel looked up at him. Did that mean Finn was moving on? Rachel didn't want to get her hopes up.

"I understand Finn." Rachel whispered, and once again, Quinn felt like she was barging in on some sort of private, intimate moment between the two of them. She looked down at the charm bracelet in her hand, clearing her throat so they would notice that she was still here. They both looked up at her with surprised faces.

"I'm just going to go pay for this. Why don't you two just stand by the entrance and wait for me?" Quinn said, nodding her head to the front doors. With a quick okay, Rachel's hand dropped from Finn's shoulder and she followed him to the front door where they waited quietly for Quinn to finish paying.

"I just wanted to say thanks Finn. This has been such a lovely day, and Quinn and I really appreciate it." Rachel said, breaking the silence. Finn looked up from the floor to Rachel, smiling at her. The Santana thing wasn't even bothering him anymore.

"It was no problem. I had fun, I'm glad you could come. I mean, I'm glad you and Quinn could come." Finn said quickly, nervously smiling at Rachel. Quinn walked up then with the blue Tiffany bag in her and, grinning at them.

"Are you guys ready to go see the Christmas tree in the making?" Quinn asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Finn and Rachel looked from each other to Quinn, grinning back at her.

FRFRFRFR

Finn gazed up at the people hanging the lights on the huge Christmas tree over the ice skating rink, holding onto Rachel's hand tightly. Quinn was on his other side, her mouth partly opened. Rachel looked up at it with a familiar sparkle in her eyes; she had seen the Christmas tree fully decorated, but she had never seen it in the making. It was amazing how people gathered to do this; to make the city so beautiful during the holidays.

"Have you ever seen the tree in this state before?" Rachel asked Finn, who turned to look at her. His eyes flashed back up at the tree and then back again to Rachel, trying to figure out which one was more beautiful. Rachel won that competition in a second.

"Once with my mom." He said, and Rachel nodded slightly, still looking up at the tree. It was official; Finn liked having Rachel around. She instantly made everything brighter and better, never putting a damper on things. And she made Finn feel great inside, she made him feel like he could do anything. Just talking about how much he loved to play the drums and how Rachel wanted to be on Broadway inspired him so much to actually want to audition for a band. Rachel's dreams, Finn realized, inspired Finn to have his own dreams.

Maybe, for the first time Finn was starting to find his way in the world. Maybe he wouldn't have to be lost for much longer. Rachel was, in the least amount of words possible, Finn's new inspiration.


	11. He's Sweet and He's Jealous

**Love is when you spend a lot of time with someone, and then they go away, and all you want is to be with that person again. You're crabby and short tempered with everyone else because all you want is that one person again.**

**-my brother (19)**

Every Thursday, Rachel went to the Barnes and Nobles to pick up a few novels to read, since she went through them so quickly. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain outside today, so Rachel had to rush down the sidewalk with her shoes soaking wet and her bright blue umbrella above her whipping around. She splashed into puddles, almost falling onto her butt a couple of times, and by the time she opened the front door to the Barnes and Nobles, Her brown hair was stuck against her face. Rachel pulled off the hair tie of her wrist and put her hair in a messy bun, thinking that she must look absolutely terrible.

Rachel's boots squeaked with every step she took, making the people who were peacefully reading look up at the disturbance. Some of them gave her dirty looks as Rachel went over to the romance section. What? She couldn't help it if it was raining and she loved romance! She scanned the book shelves, taking out a few novels that seemed interesting, turning them over to read the backs of them. With a stack of books in her arms, Rachel directed herself to the science fiction aisle, which she sometimes found interest in. She was hardly able to see over the stack of books, just peeking over the edge of the top one.

At the science fiction area, Rachel spotted the next book to her newest favorite series about people turning into animals, but the shelf was far up. So far, in fact, that Rachel couldn't even reach it no matter how high she stretched her hand. She stood on her tippy toes, her fingers waving in the air, leaning on a lower shelf for support. The book was almost in her hands when Rachel heard a loud crash beneath her and looking down in panic, she saw that the shelf she had been leaning on had collapsed under her and the books fell into a large pile. That's funny; there weren't that many books so why did the pile look so big?

In a short moment Rachel realized why the pile was so huge; the pile shifted and she heard a groan. A man rolled out of the pile, rubbing the top of his head in pain. Rachel stood there, horrified at what she had done, immediately bending down to help the man stand up.

"I'm so sorry. I did not mean to do that! I didn't even see you there! I was just leaning on the shelf to get a book because I'm so short, and everything just fell! I'm sorry!" Rachel said at record speed, and the man stood up, still rubbing his head. Rachel took in his appearance as he did; he had short, brown hair that looked like it was pulled back with gel, he was wearing round glasses, had strong features, a crooked smile, and was wearing blue jeans with a red sweater. He was a very good looking man, if Rachel thought about it, with the slight touch of a nerd to him, especially since Rachel found him under a pile of books in Barnes and Nobles.

"It's no problem, really. Those kind of things always happen to me." The man said, giving her that crooked smile. Rachel looked down at him with pity; poor guy, he did look like the kind of person who would get stuck under a bunch of books.

"I'm sure that doesn't happen all the time. I mean, how many times do you come across a klutz like me who makes a whole shelf collapse just because she can't reach her desired book?" Rachel asks, starting to collect the mess of books and put them back on the shelf. Then man starts to help her too.

"Come on, I'm sure you're not that bad." He says, putting the last of the books back in their original spots. Rachel scoffs at that as he picks up his own books and she picks up hers.

"You think so? Let me ask you this, have you ever met a girl who accidentally pushed an expensive necklace into a toilet?" Rachel asked, and the guy raised an eyebrow at her, laughing. Rachel waited for his laughing to stop patiently, giving herself a small smile. Yeah, it did sound kind of funny when she said it out loud.

"You did not! Did you wear it again?" he asked, and Rachel found it odd that he was actually interested in her story. But she could already tell that she liked talking to this guy, so she went on.

"Well, it wasn't mine. It was my friend's ex-girlfriend's. She was bitch really so I don't feel bad for her about the necklace." Rachel explained, but she did feel bad for Finn. How could she brush the necklace that must have cost him a fortune right into a toilet? It sounded like something that should be in a comedy.

"Oh! So she kind of had it coming." The guy said with a knowing smile, and Rachel gave him a half smile, thinking about it. Yeah, Santana had it coming, but Finn didn't.

"I guess." Was all Rachel said, and the guy nodded at her for a second before looking up at the higher shelves as if he was looking for something.

"Which book were you trying to get?" he asked, and Rachel pointed out the one she wanted. He easily got it for her; he wasn't as tall as Finn was but more of an average height for a guy while Finn could be on a professional basketball team. He handed her the book, which she took gratefully, adding it to her pile. "I read that's series. It's a great one."

"Did you? I'm just getting into it, and I'm blown away about how great the writing is. I never knew science fiction could be so fascinating." Rachel said, and the man smiled at her again. "I'm Rachel by the way."

"I'm Alex. Do you come here often? I feel like I've seen you before." He asked, focusing more closely on her. Rachel tucked a loose strand of wet hair behind her ear, wishing Alex wouldn't look at her like that. She didn't look her best today, and didn't want Alex to think she always looked like this.

"Yep, I come every Thursday. I'm a bit of a bookworm like that." she confessed, feeling her face get hotter at the confession. That would turn off most guys, but Alex just seemed more interested in her at these words.

"I come whenever I can; I'm really busy with work." Alex told her, and Rachel wondered what his job was. It was obviously something impressive and big if it took up most of his time, and leaving a short amount of time for reading. Judging from the large pile of books in his hands, Rachel can tell that Alex was a big reader like herself.

"What do you do?" she asked, and Alex gave a nervous laugh, biting his lip, figuring out how he would explain this.

"I work with a blog site on the internet, maybe you've heard of it, it's called Tumblr. There aren't many of us who work there, but it's very popular on the net. Of course, it's not as popular as Facebook and Twitter, but we're getting up there. We have more blogs then WordPress, so that's a good thing." He explained, and Rachel nodded at him, distinctively remembering that he sixteen-year-old cousin has one of those.

"Yeah, I've heard of it. My cousin has one. She's made so many friends through it." Rachel said smiling, and Alex smiled back, clearly relieved that Rachel knew what he was talking about.

"So what do you do exactly for Tumblr?" Rachel asked, finding Alex's job to be very interesting. It sounded a whole lot more fun than working at Dunkin' Donuts, but Rachel would never be smart enough to work for a popular blog site.

"I'm one of the few people who come up with new features for the site. Every time we add a new feature, we take one off so the site doesn't become too crowded and hectic like Facebook. On Facebook, you have _so many _different games and programs that it gets out of control, and our goal for Tumblr is to keep it simple and easy to use." Alex told her, and Rachel kept nodding her head, absorbing all this new information. She had never met someone with such an interesting job before.

"Wow. So you must be like really smart." Rachel complimented, and saw that Alex's ears went red, and he looked down at his shoes. Rachel had never met someone so easily embarrassed before, not even her.

"A little I guess. What do you do?" he asked, suddenly not becoming too embarrassed anymore. Rachel pursed her lips. How stupid would it be if she told Alex that she worked behind a counter at Dunkin' Donuts? Rachel was actually thinking about lying to him about her job completely.

"I, um, I work at a Dunkin' Donuts for now, but my real ambition is to become an actress on Broadway." She said shyly, sure that Alex would lose interest in her. But to her surprise, Alex only raised an eyebrow, impressed.

"Can you sing?" He asked, and Rachel nodded her head at him before actually opening her mouth.

"Yeah, I can sing, really well actually." Rachel told him, and then she heard someone calling Alex's name. Alex turned his head in the direction of where the voice came from, and from behind the corner, a little girl with her brown hair in two braids popped out.

"Alex, can we go now _please_?" she begged, pulling on Alex's jeans. Rachel looked down at her with admiration; she had never seen such a cute little girl.

"In a minute Lily." Alex told her patiently, and then turned back to Rachel with a face that said he was sorry.

"I'm sorry Rachel, but I have to go drop my sister off with my mom. I don't know if you're into this or anything, but maybe we could go out for a cup coffee or something and talk about the book series or something like that." Alex said nervously, his hands folded together in front of him, biting his lower lip. Rachel thought it was adorable, and she gave him a big smile. Hey, he was cute, he was smart, and he obviously was close with his little sister. Hell, Alex was every woman's dream guy, why wouldn't Rachel act on it?

"Sure. Okay. Yeah, let me just give you my cell phone number." Rachel said, taking out a loose leaf of paper she had in purse and pen, quickly writing her number as Lily kept tugging on Alex's pants. Rachel didn't understand why Alex wanted to see her again; she looked absolutely disgusting from the rain and she had dropped a hug pile of books on his head, but Rachel wasn't going to turn down a cute boy when she saw one. After all, her and Finn were just friends right, so she shouldn't feel guilty about seeing Alex again…right?

"Thanks. I'll call you." Alex said as Rachel gave him the piece of paper and he put it into his front pocket, smiling at her. Lily was now pulling on his hand, and he let her drag him away, but not before he can yell a goodbye to Rachel.

"See you Alex!" Rachel said from her spot, waving at him as Alex still looked at her, Lily walking the other way. Rachel turned the opposite way to go pay for her books, but not before she heard Lily say something to Alex.

"Alex, stop staring at that girl!"

RARARARA

Rachel was sitting with Quinn right before she went to work, eating her lunch when the phone rang. Before Quinn could stand up and get it, Rachel was on her feet, hoping that it was Finn. She had visited him the day before at the museum where he promised to call today. They were going to make plans to see a movie, and Rachel eagerly picked up the phone while Quinn laughed in the background.

"Hello Finn!" Rachel said cheerily into the phone, and Quinn smirked over her meal. But the voice on the other line wasn't Finn's, it another voice Rachel had never hear over the phone before, much to her disappointment.

"Um, this isn't Finn. This is Alex, from Barnes and Nobles? I'm sorry Rachel, you said I can call." Alex's voice said, and Rachel's spirits died down a little. She was really hoping that this had been Finn, but still, Alex was so sweet so she was still excited to see that he had called.

"Oh! Hi Alex, and yes, I'm glad you called. I was just expecting a call from someone else." Rachel said apologetically, and at hearing the new name, Quinn perked up, looking in the direction of Rachel with a curious look on her face.

"If you want I can call later so you don't miss your other call from, what did you call him, Finn." Alex said, and Rachel shook her head, and then remembered that he couldn't see her.

"No, it's fine. Finn's probably calling later anyway." She said, and could hear Alex sigh out of relief. He so obviously didn't want to stop talking to Rachel, and that thought made her smile.

"Cool. So listen, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to get together tomorrow at around six? I was thinking we could go to this coffee shop I go to often and talk more about books…or whatever else you want to talk about. I can pick you up at your place." Alex said nervously. Rachel bit her lower lip in thought; tomorrow was the day that Finn said they would go to the movies, and she didn't want to let down Finn. But the thing was, Rachel already spent a lot of her free time with Finn, and she hadn't spent any time with Alex yet. Surely Finn would understand if she missed their movies to meet a cute boy for coffee. As long as she explained it like that, right…right?

"Sure, why not? I'll just give you the address to my apartment, and I'll see you tomorrow." Rachel said and told Alex her address, with Quinn leaning in more to hear more of the conversation. "Okay, thanks Alex. I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Okay, bye."

Rachel hung up the phone, and put it on the counter, posting a note about her coffee date with Alex on the microwave so she wouldn't forget. She joined Quinn back at the table, picking up her fork to start eating her salad again. Quinn watched her with slight frown.

"So, who's Alex?" she asked, making Rachel stop eating, throwing a glance in Quinn's direction. She went back to putting a tomato in her mouth before answering.

"He's just a guy I met at Barnes and Nobles, a sweetheart really. I was trying to reach this book I wanted and I was leaning on this lower shelf for support when the shelf completely fell apart and all the books fell on Alex's head. Of course, I didn't see Alex there, but he was such a darling and he helped me put all the books away. And then we started talking, and I found out he works for a blog site called Tumblr and he has a sweet little sister named Lily. Oh, and get this, he thought the sapphire necklace and toilet story was hilarious." Rachel said with a smile on her face, and Quinn watched her, still giving her that small frown. Quinn thought she really liked Finn, what was going on here? Suddenly Rachel was over Finn and into this Alex guy? That didn't sound right.

"Wonderful." Quinn said in a voice that clearly said that she didn't think it was wonderful at all. Rachel didn't seem to notice her sarcasm though as she kept digging into her food.

"Isn't it? I looked absolutely disgusting too because it had been raining that day and my hair was stuck to my face and my shoes kept making sounds when I walked. I don't know what he saw in me!" Rachel rambled on, not even noticing that Quinn was hardly paying attention. "Tomorrow we're going to meet for coffee!"

"I thought you were going to the movies with Finn. You've been talking about ever since you saw him yesterday." Quinn pointed out, put out when Rachel said she had plans with Alex for tomorrow. Since when did Rachel ditch Finn to hang out with someone she literally just met? She didn't even ditch Finn for Quinn, but she did for this Alex dude? It must have been some sort of joke.

"I'm sure Finn will understand. He's very understanding like that." Rachel said, sounding like she was trying convince herself more than she was trying to convince Quinn. Quinn only smiled and nodded, knowing that this would only cause trouble for Rachel.

FRFRFRFR

When Finn had called right after Quinn left for work, Rachel had asked him to come over so they can talk about tomorrow. She didn't think it would be very nice to tell Finn she was canceling to hang out with him for another guy over the phone. Rachel was taking the pot of tea off the stove when she heard the knocking at the door, running over to let Finn in.

"So why'd you ask me to come over? Not that I don't love being here, but why couldn't you tell me whatever you wanted to tell me over the phone?" he asked as greeting, taking off that leather jacket he kept wearing and hanging it on the coat rack and walking to the kitchen. "Hey, are you making tea?"

"Yeah, it's ready if you want some." Rachel called following him, and taking the tea pot into her hands. Finn pulled out two mugs from the cabinet and put them in front of Rachel to fill up, putting tea bags into them. They both sat down at the table, and Rachel took a sip of her tea.

"So I checked the times for the movies and I was thinking we'd go see that new horror one that I talked about last weekend, remember?" Finn asked, stirring his drink. Rachel glanced up at him, feeling a little bad for leaving Finn for Alex. Yes, she remembered how excited Finn was to see that new horror movie that was coming out today; that's all he talked about that time they went out for lunch. Rachel was almost sick of hearing about it and how gruesome it would be.

"That's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about. Um, something came up and I'm going to have to cancel our movie tomorrow." Rachel said, and Finn looked up from his tea, a little surprised. To Rachel's surprise, Finn looked concerned.

"Why? What's wrong? Did something happen? Is Quinn alright? Are _you _alright?" Finn asked in a worried tone, leaning closer to Rachel. Rachel quickly shook her head at him, reassuring him that she was perfectly fine, as was Quinn. Finn let out a sigh of relief, glad to hear that Rachel was not in any sort of danger.

"Wait…so then why can't you go out tomorrow night?" Finn asked, this time fully curious with his eyebrows pulled together. Rachel shifted uncomfortably in her seat, wondering how she should put this.

"I have plans with someone else." She said simply, and then took another sip of tea to block her face. Finn eyes lit up at these words.

"Oh, you mean with Quinn? Well then that's fine, I understand that you have to spend time with her." Finn said understandingly, and Rachel hoped that he'll be that understanding when she tells him who she's really spending the evening with.

"No, Quinn has a date tomorrow." She answered, and Finn dropped his mug, his eyes narrowing suspiciously at her. Why did he think that Rachel's only friend was Quinn? She did have other friends other than just Quinn and him.

"Rachel, who are you ditching me for?" Finn asked slowly, and she could literally see Finn getting angrier. If he was this angry now, how would he feel when she told him that she was going out with Alex? But really, Rachel compromised with herself, why should Finn get mad at her for going on a date with another guy anyway? She and Finn were only friends anyway; they had made that very clear over the past few weeks. She was perfectly free to date whoever she wanted.

"It's just someone I met at the bookstore the other day. A boy, well actually a man, named Alex." Rachel said, not looking up at Finn. At those words, something stirred in the bottom of Finn's stomach. He didn't know what the feeling was, but it closed up his throat, making it hard to speak.

"Oh, really? How did you meet him?" Finn squeaked out, amazed by how young he sounded when he said it. Rachel didn't seem to hear his tone of voice though, only that he asked the question, taking that as if Finn was okay with it. She told him excitedly about her meeting with Alex.

"You won't believe how it happened Finn! I was trying to get this book that was on a high shelf because you know how short I am, and all the books beneath me collapsed, and fell on Alex." At this part of the story, Rachel started laughing, thinking it seemed so much funnier now. Finn only stared at her with an obvious frown on his face, but Rachel didn't see it. "Anyway, he was so amazing because he wasn't angry at all with me and he helped me put all the books away. And then we started talking about books and his job. Oh, did you know that he is works with a small group of people on a site called Tumblr? Have you heard of it, Finn? Oh, never mind, it doesn't matter. Anyway, Alex's little sister, Lily came up and pulled Alex away from me, but not before he was able to get my number. It was so perfect!"

As Rachel kept gushing about Alex, Finn only stared there and kept nodding his head, putting on a fake smile whenever Rachel actually looked at them. But when she wasn't looking at Finn and was too busy talking about Alex, Finn looked down at the floor with a frown, his stomach hurting a little. Why was this bothering him so much?

Rachel was his friend, she had become a good friend over the time, and Finn didn't want to lose her to someone else who could be a possibly good friend…or more. Just the thought of Alex's hands all over Rachel's body made Finn want to punch something. Someone else wasn't supposed to look at Rachel in that way as if they wanted to touch her everywhere, someone else wasn't supposed to put their arms around Rachel and play poker with her by using Starbursts, someone else wasn't supposed to take Rachel to bars, or bring her to see to see the Christmas tree in the making, or eat a homemade dinner with her. That was Finn's job. That was what Finn was supposed to do with Rachel. Not some guy named Alex who sounded like he was a goody two shoes.

"This Alex dude sounds like a geek." Finn said in monotone voice, making the smile on Rachel's disappear instantly. Her eyes stopped glowing, and she gave Finn, a hard cold stare. It was like someone had turned a light off inside her, leaving Rachel dark and cold. Finn actually found that he feared this new Rachel, but held his ground.

"And what, in your own words, does geek mean, Finn?" she asked him in hard voice, and Finn cleared his throat. He was not going to back down from this, not now at least when he had so much to say.

"A geek is someone who's named Alex, works for something called Tumblr, does nerdy things like hang out at Barnes and Nobles, has books fall over them, and has a little sister named Lily." Finn put out there, sounding so snarky that Rachel's felt like she could taste it in there. Rachel stared daggers into Finn, and thought that if looks can kill, this look would do the job. He almost shrunk when he saw her expression, but sat up straight, stirring his tea pointedly. To his great surprise, Rachel wasn't mad about the Alex part, it was another part; it was another part of what Finn had said that really set off Rachel.

"You know Finn, every Thursday I go to Barnes and Nobles to pick out books and read there for an hour or so. I guess, like Alex, I'm a geek too, aren't I?" Rachel said, her eyes narrowing on Finn. At these words, Finn dropped his spoon, looking up at Rachel with a horrified expression. That wasn't he meant, that wasn't what he meant at all.

"No, Rachel, that's not what I meant. You're not a geek, you're…Rachel." Finn said at a loss with words. Rachel wasn't a geek, Rachel wasn't a nerd, Rachel wasn't a loser; Rachel was Rachel. Rachel was amazing, Rachel was beautiful, Rachel was smart, Rachel was talented and funny and wonderful; Rachel was everything that was good. Why was that so hard to tell her?

"What did you mean then, Finn? Because it sounded like you were saying that I was geek." Rachel said, standing up and walking towards the counter, before Finn could give her an answer and blubber out that he thought Rachel was perfect, and nothing like a geek. Why couldn't he just say it right? "What are you even doing? You don't deserve this tea that I made! You're too much of jerk to have my wonderful tea." Rachel snapped at Finn, taking the mug he had in his hands, and slamming it down on the counter, tea splashing everywhere. Rachel didn't even notice it; she was too busy being angry with Finn. "You know what Finn? Get out of my apartment, you don't even deserve to even be able to _walk _on the same floor I walk on, Finn. Get out! Get out!"

Rachel pushed Finn to stand up, and he did, looking at Rachel like she had lost her mind. Maybe she actually had. Why was she getting so pissed at him? All he did was make one mistake, and let the word "geek" slip out, and Rachel was pushing him out of her apartment. Her hands were on his back, pushing him towards the door, and throwing that stupid leather jacket in his face. Finn caught it, deciding that Rachel had officially lost her mind.

"You can't be serious, Rachel. It was only one word, and I wasn't even talking about you." Finn explained as Rachel opened the front door, and tried pulling him out, but Finn was much bigger then Rachel and was able to stay his ground as Rachel pulled and tugged.

"Oh, I'm _completely _serious Finn Hudson! Get out of my apartment or I'll call the cops on you!" Rachel threatened, and Finn couldn't help but laugh at that as Rachel kept pulling on his jacket. Yeah, she'll call the cops! Sure she would!

"And what are you going to tell them? That there's a man in your apartment who's having a cup of tea with you?" Finn asked with a snort as Rachel started slapping him in the side of his stomach. He knew she was the abusive type!

"I'll them that you're- you're hitting me or something like that!" Rachel shouted, getting the attention of an old man who was passing by. He stopped to watch the two of them argue.

"I'm the one hitting you? You're the one who's attacking me you little monster!" Finn said, holding back a laugh. At the words "little monster" and the fact that Rachel could tell that Finn was stifling a laugh, Rachel's hit quickened up.

"I'll give a little monster you bully of a big monster! You are so disgraceful, and rude, and mean! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!" Rachel yelled, still hitting him to the point where it was actually starting to hurt Finn a little. Finally, Rachel was out of breath and completely tired, falling against Finn's body. Finn instantly put his arms around her to support her against his body, gently rubbing her arm like she had done with his shoulder. It seemed to calm Rachel for a moment.

"You don't hate me, and I don't hate you. I'm your friend, and you know it. You can be angry with me Rachel, but I'm still your friends." He whispered, bending so he could whisper in this in Rachel's ear. Her breathing steadied and Rachel stood there, wrapping her arms around Finn's waist, breathing in his scent. He was so nice, and perfect, that all Rachel could do was enjoy this moment of closeness. Then that sentence about the geek popped back into Rachel's mind, and she quickly pulled away.

"It doesn't matter that we're still friends. I'm angry at you and I don't want to see you right now." Rachel said calmly, crossing her arms over her chest, and looking directly into Finn's face. Finn bit his lip, and Rachel glanced at the old man who was still watching the pair with curious eyes.

"Fine, I'll go. But I'm coming over tomorrow." Finn said just as calmly, backing away from Rachel and pulling his jacket on. Rachel was about to tell him that he most certainly was not going to come over tomorrow, but Finn had already disappeared down the hallway and out of sight. Rachel huffed loudly and looked at the old man who was staring at her with slight smile on his face.

"Being in love makes you do crazy things." He said with a knowing smile, and with another frustrated huff, Rachel slammed her door closed on the old man.

FRFRFRFR

Finn knocked on the door once, twice, three times before Rachel actually made the effort to stand up and walk over to the door. She opened it, already knowing who it was, and saw Finn standing there; smiling down at her like everything was perfectly fine between them. Everything wasn't perfectly fine though; Finn had not accepted the fact that she was going out with Alex that evening and he also called her geek. Well, he didn't directly call her one, but he said hanging out at Barnes and Nobles made you one, and Rachel did that! Not to mention, it was rude of him to just come to her apartment when he was completely aware that Alex would be here any minute to pick her up. He planned this, and Rachel knew it!

"Hi Rachel, oh, you look pretty! Are you going somewhere?" Finn said cheerily, walking past Rachel and into her kitchen, Rachel rolling her eyes as he did. He knew where she was going; Finn was just playing games with her!

"You know where I'm going Finn!" Rachel said in a loud tone as she followed him. Finn had seated himself on one of the chairs, and looked at Rachel with a slight smirk on his face, his eyes shining.

"I actually don't. All I know is that you're ditching me; you're _amazing _friend for some guy you only just met and really know nothing about. For all you know, this Alex guy could be some crazy maniac who brutally murders smart and pretty girls that hang around bookstores with an axe." Finn said, throwing his hands up. Rachel stared at him blankly, wondering if he was serious. "Oh, by the way, I brought some Starbursts over as an apology for how I acted yesterday. They can also be seen as me forgiving you for attacking me yesterday right outside your apartment."

Finn held up a bag of Starbursts, shaking it in front of Rachel's face expectedly. He was looking at her as if everything in the world was dandy and the world was made out of sunshine and rainbows, and all Rachel wanted to do was hit something. Why did Finn look so god damn happy? Why wasn't he angry or jealous or infuriated like he was yesterday? Why was he all of a sudden very calm?

"You can't say that I shouldn't go out with Alex because I don't know him, and he could be a murderer. That's stupid, what about when I met you? You could have been some sort of serial killer who invited lonely girls to bars just to kill them in the bathroom!" Rachel said back, ignoring the bag of Starbursts in her face.

"That's ridiculous, Rachel. Why would I ever kill someone? Are you even thinking about what you're saying?" Finn said, removing the bag from Rachel's face and picking a red one out. Rachel stared at him, her mouth slightly opened. Was Finn kidding or something? Was Finn seriously being serious right now; the way he was acting only made Rachel want to hit something even harder.

"Why would Alex?" Rachel said back, but then a thought crossed her mind, making her temporarily forget about Finn and his theory of Alex killing women. "Oh no."

"What? What is it?" Finn asked, seeing the change in Rachel's face, and standing up so quickly that his chair fell back. He started to panic, wondering if something had happened to Rachel since she was very still and staring at the wall with a horrified expression.

"I forgot to ask Quinn what the story was going to be for me and Alex. Oh, I can't believe I forgot to ask her that!" she said after a silent moment, walking over to the counter, and banging her fists against the counter. How she forget to ask Quinn for her and Alex's happily ever after story? She needed those to give her hope! Why was this making her so mad? Rachel didn't even notice Finn follow her, a few inches behind her.

"Story? What story? Rachel, what are you talking about?" he asked, and for a second, Rachel didn't want to tell him. Why should she tell him? All Finn had done was get her angry! But she knew that she would tell Finn at some point in their friendship, so might as well tell him now.

"It's just this thing, that whenever I meet a new guy, Quinn makes up this story about what will happen to us. It's really just for my entertainment." Rachel explained, and Finn nodded his head, thinking that that would be something Rachel and Quinn did. Wait one moment….

"Wait, so did Quinn make up a story for the two of us when I first met you?" he asked, and at these words, Rachel turned around to look at him, noticing for the first time just how close he really was to her. She tried to breathe as she thought about his question. There was no way Rachel was telling Finn about the stories Quinn had made up for them. Not unless she wanted to be completely embarrassed. But Finn was waiting patiently for the answer, and Rachel just stared up at him, frozen.

"Nope, I guess she forgot then too." Rachel said quickly, pursing her lips together and hoping Finn would think she was telling the truth. Finn became disappointed at this news, wishing that he could hear some funny stories about him and Rachel from when they first met. What would the story be based on anyway; from when they met at the museum, or when Rachel realized Santana was Finn's girlfriend?

"Oh, well, that's too bad." Finn said, biting his lip. Rachel could only nod in response, staring at Finn's chest that was so close to her. She would only have to reach out, and she would feel his body. It was only a couple of inches away; maybe if Rachel did it very quickly, Finn wouldn't even notice.

She was about to reach out her hand when the doorbell rang. _Damn._

There seemed to be a moment of silence after it rang; Finn and Rachel staring at each other intently. And then they were both bolting towards the front door, Finn in the lead. His legs were longer then Rachel's were and he was faster, so Rachel bumped right into him when Finn slid on the floor, stopping right in front of the door. Out of breathe, he swung the door wide open to look down at an average height man with gelled hair and dorky glasses, holding a bouquet of daisies. This was Alex? Finn stared at him in shock. He was even more of a nerd then Finn thought he would be.

"Hi. Is there a Rachel here?" Alex asked nervously, and Finn's eyes shifted from Alex's face to the flowers he was holding. Damn it, why didn't he ever get Rachel flowers whenever they went out? And who brought someone daisies anyway? Why not roses or tulips or something more romantic? Finn fingered the Starbursts in his pocket, thinking that that was the most romantic thing he had ever given Rachel before. Stupid Alex with his stupid glasses with his stupid daisies ruining Finn's friendship with Rachel!

Finn was about to tell Alex that no, there was not a Rachel living in this apartment and would gladly close the door in his face, when Rachel shoved Finn out of the way, beaming at Alex. Finn wanted to punch Alex in the face for even smiling back at her!

"Hi Alex, this is Finn, and he was just about to go." Rachel said, her eyes moving from Alex to Finn, the expression on her face changing to a hard glare. Finn rolled his eyes as Alex looked up at him.

"This was the guy you were expecting the call from right?" he asked Rachel, and Finn's head whipped around in Rachel's direction in shock.

"You mentioned me?" Finn asked in a shock tone, and Rachel let out a loud sigh, keeping her attention directed at Alex.

"Not on purpose." She said, not even looking at Finn. "Come on in Alex, I just have to get my purse and coat. And are those for me? Thank you so much; they're beautiful! You really shouldn't have!"

Rachel led Alex down the hall, pushing passed Finn. Finn turned around to see Rachel taking the bouquet of flowers from Alex's hands, admiring them and leading him into the kitchen where they disappeared. Finn followed them quickly, wanting to make sure Alex didn't try anything on Rachel when Finn wasn't looking. He watched with his arms crossed across his chest as Rachel had Alex sit down, and how he said something about hoping Rachel liked daisies because he didn't know what to get her. Rachel assured him that she did, giving Alex a sweet smile, and Finn's stomach hurt a little at the wish of her giving Finn that sweet smile. Why was Alex suddenly the focus of attention?

"We can go as soon as Finn leaves, which for some reason he hasn't yet." Rachel told Alex, turning to glare at Finn once again. He gave her a tight smile, Alex looking from Rachel to Finn in wonder.

"Can I use your bathroom before I go or is that asking for too much?" Finn said through his teeth, trying to keep his temper under control. Something about seeing Alex in Rachel's apartment, seeing him interact with Rachel, and give her flowers made Finn's insides boil with hatred. Why was he so angry all the time now?

"Of course you can, Finny." Rachel responded with a fake smile, and with his hands in his pockets, Finn walked down the hall and into the bathroom.

In the bathroom, he stared at himself in the mirror, trying to remember if he had used soap in the shower this morning. Yeah, he used soap so he smelled okay. Did he brush his teeth? Yeah, he brushed his teeth so his breathe didn't smell funny. Did he have something in his teeth? No, he didn't eat any foods that would stick to his teeth so his mouth was okay. Then why was Rachel treating him like he wasn't even her friend? Sure, Finn hadn't said many nice things about Alex, but he came over today, intending to apologize and make up with Rachel, and all it had done was make Finn even more frustrated than he already was. It wasn't fair; all he wanted was the Rachel from before Alex came into the picture! He wanted the Rachel who laughed with him, and made him feel good, and seriously wanted that necklace from Tiffany's! That Rachel wans't his Rachel anymore; Finn was slowly losing that Rachel to Alex. And there was no way in hell was he losing that Rachel to Alex now that he practically had her!

When Finn came back out of the bathroom, feeling a little more under control, it was to see Rachel sending Alex to wait by the front door as she found a vase to put the flowers in. Her head was under the sink, pulling out one of her nicest vases, when Finn spoke.

"Do you even like daisies?" he asked, and surprised to hear his voice, Rachel moved to stand up to see Finn, but only bumped her head against the cabinet. Finn instantly was by her side on his knees, rubbing her head. Rachel had her hand on her forehead, her eyes shut closed.

"Rachel, are you alright?" Finn asked, worried, removing Rachel's hand from her forehead to see a new blue bump forming on Rachel's head. Her eyes were still shut closed, trying to hold back the tears. Rachel could feel the closeness of Finn, but ignored it, trying to make the bump hurt less. Finn's hand touched her cheek, gently turning her face so he can see her better. There was so much worry and care in Finn's eyes that it held Rachel there, removing the ability to think. "I'm sorry. I should know by now to warn you that I'm near you before I actually speak."

Rachel didn't answer him, only gazed at him, a feeling forming in her stomach. They were kneeling on the kitchen floor, their bodies practically touching, and the only thing the either of them can do was stare at each other, getting lost in the other person's eyes as Finn gently rubbed Rachel's bruise. Finn might have been acting like a jerk ever since he found out about Alex, but he cared deeply about Rachel, and that was all that mattered. It was the voice down the hall that snapped the two of them out of it.

"Rachel, are you okay in there?" came Alex's voice, and suddenly, Rachel remembered what was happening and who she was, and she stood up and took a few steps away from Finn, looking at him with a strange expression. What had just happened there?

"Yeah, I'm fine Alex. Something just fell." She yelled back, still looking at Finn with that weird expression. Slowly, Finn stood up, gazing at Rachel the same exact way. Rachel took a deep breath before answering Finn's original question. "No, I prefer lilies, but it's the thought that counts."

Finn only nodded at her, and after a long, silent moment, Rachel moved to pick up the vase that she dropped on the floor and put the flowers in it, filling it with water. She placed them on the kitchen table, and then turned back to Finn, who was still standing still, watching Rachel closely.

"I have to go now Finn. I'm going to get some coffee with Alex. You should go now." Rachel said slowly, staring at Finn. After another painful, quiet moment, Finn nodded leaving Rachel in the kitchen, and quickly walking down the hallway. He pushed passed Alex, who was standing by the front door patiently, and Finn slammed the door behind him as he went, not even sparing Alex a look.

RARARARA

Alex was talking about the book, Rachel knew that much. And she tried to pay attention to what he was saying as she took another sip of her coffee, she really did, but Rachel's thoughts kept drifting back to Finn. What had happened between the two of them when she bumped her head? Rachel put her hand to where she had bumped her head. It didn't hurt anymore, and it wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be. It must not have been as visible as Rachel thought either because Alex hadn't said anything about it. Her hand moved from the bump to the cheek that Finn had touched, still able to feel his skin against her face. It had felt so good, like coming home or something. Rachel couldn't explain it, and now was definitely not the time to think about it. Not when she was out with Alex.

"I think Ned was a useless character though. I mean, how does being able to turn into a beetle help anyone? He doesn't even do anything!" Alex was saying, taking a gulp of his coffee. Rachel stared at him, trying to remember what was going on and what Alex was talking about again. Oh yeah, the book.

"I agree. He does nothing to help the team, especially when they come against the real animals. Remember when that happened in the third book? Ned was such a coward then; he literally threw himself under a rock in beetle form!" Rachel added to the conversation, not wanting Alex to do all the talking. She had to focus here. Alex was a great guy, and he deserved to be in the spotlight in Rachel's mind when he was the only one with her. Now wasn't a good time to think about Finn, and all the complicated feelings she had for him.

"Thank you! Finally, someone agrees with me that he doesn't deserve to be on the team! I don't understand why they don't just kick Ned off for good." He said, throwing his hands up. Rachel laughed at how dramatic he got about it, getting more into the conversation.

"I guess they can't because he's one of them, and he belongs nowhere else. The poor guy doesn't even know who his parents are." Rachel pointed out, and Alex nodded his head in thought, agreeing with her on that. The two of them abused Ned a little more before Alex looked at his watch, biting his lip.

"I'm sorry Rachel, but I have to be at work soon. There are some glitches with the inboxes on Tumblr today, and unfortunately, I have to be the one to fix it." Alex said, standing up and throwing his coffee out. Rachel did the same, not feeling too bad that Alex had to go and cut their time together short.

"That's fine. I understand how important work is." She said, following Alex out of the coffee shop. It had started to get colder, and Rachel wrapped her coat more tightly around herself. Okay, that was a lie; she didn't really know how important work was. Rachel worked at a Dunkin' Donuts for crying out loud, it wasn't some sort of important career.

"Do you want me to walk you home? I feel bad." Alex said, and Rachel shook her head at him, much rather walking home alone.

"No, no. You go to work; I don't want you to be late." Rachel said understandingly, and Alex touched her shoulder lightly. Rachel shuddered, probably from the cold, as Alex smiled at her. Despite the cold, Rachel forced herself to smile back at him. Alex was a sweetheart, not a crazy manic murderer like Finn had predicted.

"I'll call you, okay?" Alex said, about to turn around and head the other way. Rachel nodded fervently, only wanting to get out of the cold.

"Okay. Bye Alex." Rachel said, and Alex stood there for a second, as if expecting something, but then turned around and walked the opposite way. Rachel didn't even bother watching his figure disappear within the wind, only turning around and quickly walking home, her thoughts going right back to Finn.


	12. I Do Want to be With You

**Love doesn't always mean you fall in love with the opposite sex or someone of the same age. Love is hard, love isn't easy. You don't choose who you fall in love with, and it makes you accept people for who they are. It makes you accept you for who you are. Love is scary.**

**-me (16)**

Finn had resisted the urge to call Rachel for days, thinking that she must still be angry with him. He had, after all, come into her apartment, judged her new guy friend, ridiculed the fact that she was a tiny bit geeky, and had accidentally surprised her into bumping her head. But Finn still stood by the fact that he was not talking about Rachel when he called Alex a geek, he was only trying to show Rachel that Alex wasn't the one for her. Who was the one for her then? The name popped into Finn's head before he can stop it; Finn Hudson. He was the one for her, and he didn't realize it until now. Why didn't Finn see it before? It was so obvious; it was practically dancing in front of him with nothing but a towel on.

He liked Rachel. Finn Hudson liked Rachel Berry. Finn Hudson liked, _liked _Rachel Berry.

Rachel Berry now liked Alex. Rachel Berry didn't like Finn Hudson, she liked Alex. Rachel Berry used to like Finn Hudson. Used to. She doesn't like him anymore then a friend now.

This revelation made Finn stand up from his kitchen seat, the chair falling back. He thought about this through again; yes, it all made sense now; the kiss, the massage, the Starbursts, Tiffany's, the Christmas tree. Yes, Rachel liked Finn. Finn doubted his relationship with Santana _after _meeting Rachel. Finn doubted marrying Santana _after _meeting Rachel. Finn had the strange feeling whenever he saw Rachel. Finn liked Rachel. Finn really liked Rachel, and Rachel liked him!

But not anymore, Rachel didn't like Finn anymore. Rachel liked Alex now, and Finn was going to lose Rachel to Alex. No, he couldn't let that happen. He wanted Rachel. He needed Rachel. Finn liked Rachel, and Rachel still liked him. Rachel had to still like him!

FRFRFRFR

She took one deep breathe before opening the front doors to the museum, quickly walking down the first hall in search of Finn. Things had been awkward and strained between Rachel and Finn since she had told him about Alex, and Rachel wanted to make sure that they were still good friends and that she no longer felt the need to hit him whenever she saw him. Today, Rachel found Finn a lot easier the she thought she would; he was standing very stiffly, staring hard at an old couple admiring a painting. Rachel walked over to him, and when he saw her, his eyes lit up, a grin appearing on his face.

"Rachel…hi." He breathed out, gazing down at Rachel, his face glowing. He was looking at her differently; Rachel didn't know what exactly was different about Finn, but it was still strange to see how excited he was to see Rachel. When she had left him, Finn was extremely jealous of Alex, and bothering her about daisies. What had changed within him that now made Finn look at Rachel like she was a shining star?

"Hi Finn, I really need to talk to you. Are you alright; you're acting weird." Rachel asked, and Finn shook his head quickly, biting his lower lip.

"No, I'm fine. What did you want to talk about?" he asked, and Rachel cleared her throat before answering. Finn had to understand that she liked Alex, and that any chance she had with Finn, had now disappeared thanks to their platonic friendship. Well, at least Rachel now thought of it as a platonic friendship.

"Look Finn, I know the last few days have been hard on you. You're not used to Alex yet, and you're worried about me and don't trust Alex. I get that, and I appreciate how much you care about me, I really do, but you can't act rude and be angry with me for liking Alex. I'm going to keep seeing Alex, but I need you to be okay with that because…because you're an important person in my life Finn and your opinion matters, and I need to know that you're okay." Rachel explained nervously, her hands twisting together, looking up at Finn for some sort of reaction. To Rachel's surprise, Finn only kept staring at her, absorbing her words. He kept giving her that look, not even blinking. It was as if Finn was trying to put everything to memory; every word and every movement. Finn needed to remember the words she was saying; he couldn't forget them now. They were locked into his memory forever.

"I- I understand, Rachel." Finn stuttered out, and Rachel's eyes went wide. That was a lot easier then she thought it would be.

"You do?" she asked, not sure if she had heard him correctly.

"I do." Finn said, wanting to get Rachel on his side. If he at least wanted the chance of Rachel seeing that he was better for her then Alex was, he wouldn't have to fight with her anymore. From now on, it was whatever Rachel wanted. If Rachel wanted Finn to actually like Alex (even though he didn't), then that was what Finn would do; he would put up with Alex just for Rachel. "I completely understand. You're right; I've been acting like a jerk lately and I'm sorry about that. Alex seems like an okay guy, and I should give him a chance. All I want is for you to be happy, and if Alex makes you happy, then I'm happy."

The part about Rachel being happy wasn't even Finn trying to get Rachel to fall for him; that was full honestly. All he ever wanted was for Rachel to be happy; to have her dreams come true and have everything the world can offer her, and Finn would stop at nothing to make Rachel happy. Even if that meant that she was with stupid Alex when she was clearly supposed to be with Finn. Huh, ever since Finn's revelation of realizing he liked Rachel, he started seeing things a lot clearer. Like the fact that Rachel and Alex didn't make a good pair, but her and Finn did.

"Wow. That's so great of you, Finn. I'm actually really surprised by how easy this is now." Rachel sighed, gazing up at Finn with a smile. He was so wonderful, really, they can fight and Rachel could hit him over and over again, and he still would be her friend in the end. She didn't deserve it; Rachel thought to herself, she didn't deserve someone who would forgive her trying to kill them with her fists.

"Well, I've thought about it a lot, and I've decided to act mature about the whole thing. I mean, it's not like we're together or anything, so I honestly have no reason to be angry." He said, and Rachel nodded her head in agreement. As many times as Rachel imagined it in her head, her and Finn weren't a couple, and she had to accept the fact that that wasn't going to change.

"Yes, you're very right." she said, and then went on, more nervous. "Which is why I want you to actually get to know Alex; you're an important part of my life Finn, and Alex might be one day too. It's important for my best guy friend and my maybe possibly…more than just a guy friend to get along." Finn's stomach lurched at Rachel's last words, imagining Rachel and Alex as a couple, and feeling the anger boil inside of him. "That is why I'm inviting you to go out to eat with me and Alex."

"I don't think that's a very good idea Rachel." Finn said quickly, not wanting to be there when Rachel and Alex said cute things to each other. He would feel the need to puke when they did. Not to mention, Finn didn't want to be their stupid third wheel; he wasn't supposed to be the third wheel with Rachel, that was supposed to be someone who wasn't him or Rachel.

"Oh, don't be silly Finny! It's a wonderful idea!" Rachel happily, in better spirits now that she knew that Finn was accepting Alex. "Alex and I are going to this restaurant that he knows tomorrow night and I am inviting you to join us. The reservation is at 7 and I want you to be at my house around 6:30, Alex is picking me up at 6:45."

Great, Finn not only had to spend one miserable night with Rachel and Alex, but he also had to spend it at a romantic restaurant. He could imagine it now; Rachel and Alex holding hands, staring lovingly at each other, as Finn sat there next to Rachel, imagining that it was him holding Rachel's hand instead of Alex. He was not looking forward to this, and wanted to tell Rachel that he didn't want go, but she looked so god damn happy and Finn just couldn't tell her no. Not when she looked like that.

"This will give you the chance to really get to know Alex. You're going to realize that he's a great guy, and deserves to be with me. He's really smart and really sweet and very nice looking. You'll think so when you get to talk to him, Finn." Rachel gushed, and Finn thought that it didn't matter how much he liked Alex; there was no way he was thinking that he was sweet. Finn also wouldn't think Alex was nice looking either, and that opinion was not changing no matter what. "Please Finn; do this for me, please say you will?"

"Fine, I'll go." Finn said with a sigh, and Rachel started squealing with happiness. She looked adorable as she did, Finn thought, he would do anything if it meant she could keep squealing because of him. After a while, Rachel calmed down enough to speak.

"Excellent! So, I'll see you tomorrow, okay Finn?" Rachel said, turning on her heels to leave the museum. "Oh, and dress nicely! Bye!"

Finn watched Rachel skip down the hall, causing many people to look at her as if she were insane. He chuckled at how happy she was, not able to hold back the smile that appeared on his face. She was so perky and happy and full of life; everything that Finn seemed not to be. Of course, Rachel didn't want him the same way Finn did anymore; he was boring. Finn was boring and plain and just stupid. Rachel was made for bigger things, bigger things like Broadway and smart guys like Alex. No, no; Finn had to stay on track. He deserved Rachel, and even if he didn't, it didn't change the matter at hand. Rachel still liked Finn the way he liked her, he was sure of it. He wouldn't get through this if he lost that last shred of hope.

RQRQRQRQ

Still in a good mood from earlier that day, and still amazed by how well Finn was reacting to Alex now, Rachel slid right into her kitchen with her socks, whipping her hair around, and beaming at Quinn who was sitting down at the kitchen table, texting someone on her phone with a smile on her face.

"Who are you texting?" Rachel asked curiously, taking the seat next to Quinn. Quinn glanced at her, and then looked back down at her phone as she received another message. Her face instantly lit up.

"Why are you so happy?" she asked, and Rachel grinned again, feeling the need to clap her hands together. Everything was just going so perfectly! Finn was her friend again and there might be something between her and Alex! When did life start being so kind to Rachel anyway?

"Finn and I are on good terms again, and he's joining me and Alex out to dinner tomorrow night." Rachel told Quinn, and Quinn gave a short laugh. Yeah, Rachel and Alex were going on a date, and Rachel was bringing Finn along. That sounded like a train wreck ready to happen. Seeing that Quinn had laughed, Rachel's nose scrunched up in confusion. "What's so funny?"

"Rachel, you're going on a date and you're bringing Finn with you. You can't do that to Finn; it'll kill him. You're only setting up for a train wreck." Quinn said, and Rachel shook her head at her. Why would it kill Finn? It wasn't like he was into Rachel or anything like that; they were just good friends, Rachel figured Finn made that clear. How could Quinn even think that? And a train wreck, really? Wasn't that exaggerating a little?

"Don't you think you should be the last person to be talking about train wrecks? You kind of had one with Puck when you slept with him." Rachel pointed out, and Quinn blushed beat red, staring at the screen of her and then started texting in a reply to whoever she was talking to.

"Hardly." She mumbled back, and Rachel's eyes landed on the phone again, right now on the table. She didn't realize that Quinn had skipped over her own question with one of her own.

"You still didn't answer the original question; who are you texting?" Rachel asked again, leaning over to see the screen more closely. At her movement, Quinn snatched the phone and put it to her chest as if it was some big secret that she didn't want Rachel to know.

"It's none of your business." Quinn said quickly, and Rachel glared at her. They were best friends, and best friends didn't keep secrets from each other. Rachel was the only person Quinn ever told secrets to, so why was she keeping this one?

"Was it the person you had a date with the other day?" Rachel asked and after a moment where Quinn bit her lip, she nodded her head. "What's his name? You must like him if you're texting him with that huge smile on your face."

"It's none of your business." She repeated, and Rachel rolled her eyes at her. They were not going to play this game. Quinn had loosened her grip on the phone, even putting it back on the table after a quiet second. Rachel stared hard at the phone, as if she could tell who she was texting just by looking at the cell phone. The phone rang again, signaling a new text message, and Rachel lunged for it as did Quinn. The two girls took hold of it the same time, both of them pulling on it. Rachel finally tugged it right out of Quinn's grip as Quinn moaned out a no. Rachel opened the cell phone, and her jaw dropped when she saw who it was.

"You're texting Noah Puckerman? Why are you texting Puck? Wait a second, is Puck the guy you went on a date with?" Rachel asked in shocked tone, having trouble believing the words. Quinn pulled the phone out of Rachel grip with a mean glare, looking at the text and fervently responding. It wasn't until she was done texting her answer to Puck that Quinn put the phone down and looked at Rachel nervously.

"Look, Puck is not the guy you think he is. He's nice and he really does like me for more than just for my looks." Quinn started to explain, but Rachel only glared at floor, upset that Quinn didn't tell her sooner. Rachel would have understood if Quinn had just been honest with her instead of holding secrets. Now she only felt upset.

"I just don't understand…why didn't you just tell me the truth?" Rachel asked in a soft voice. Quinn sighed loudly, wishing that she did have the guts to tell Rachel about Noah sooner.

"I was afraid of how you would take it, and I was a little embarrassed. I mean, I'm kind of got together with a guy I met through a strip club and a one night stand. It's not going to be the most romantic story to tell my children when they ask about the boyfriends I've had in the past." Quinn said quietly, nervously looking at her lap. Rachel bit her lip; well, when Quinn acted like that how could she be mad with her? Puck wasn't the most gentlemen like guy after all.

"I just wish you told me sooner." Rachel said, and Quinn nodded in agreement. Yeah, she wished she had told Rachel sooner too. A new thought crossed Rachel's mind though.

"So…are you and Puck together then? You said you were 'kind of together'. What does that mean?" Rachel asked, finally meeting Quinn's eyes. Now that it seemed that Rachel had accepted the fact that Quinn liked Puck, Quinn was able to breathe without having to worry about Rachel blowing up on her with anger.

"It's complicated. Right now, we're not into labels. I think the two of us are just going to see how we go, not as a couple, not as friends, just as us; just as Quinn and Puck." Quinn explained, and Rachel nodded slowly. That was smart to do; have a relationship with someone without putting a label on it. You wouldn't have to worry about crossing a friend line or acting too much like two people in love. You just simply did what you felt like with that person. Why didn't she and Finn think of that? Maybe they wouldn't be in this situation where Finn was jealous of Alex and Rachel was stuck in the middle if Finn and Rachel acted on their emotions in the first place. Maybe Finn would actually be Rachel's boyfriend then.

"Thanks Quinn." Rachel whispered, and Quinn pulled a confused expression on her. What had she said exactly for Rachel to thank her?

"For what?" she asked, but Rachel only shook her head at her, smiling to herself.

"Just…thanks."

FRFRFRFR

It was a few minutes after 6:30, but Finn figured Alex wouldn't be there yet and Rachel wouldn't mind. They couldn't go anywhere without stupid Alex anyway. Finn didn't care how many times he told Rachel Alex was okay; he would still think he was stupid and that was the end of it. You would have to be stupid anyway to think you had a chance with Rachel when she so clearly liked Finn.

He knocked on the door, and Rachel opened the door quickly, smiling up at Finn. She looked beautiful, Finn thought to himself, wearing a simple navy dress with white stars ending right above her knees. Her brown locks were falling down her back like a waterfall, and Finn couldn't help getting lost in Rachel's eyes. Would it be alright if he just stood here and admired Rachel for as long as ever?

"Finn, you okay?" Rachel asked after a silent second where Finn only gazed at her, his mouth slightly opened. He couldn't even find words to explain Rachel Berry; she was just everything that was perfect all wrapped into one.

"You're so beautiful." He murmured, not even aware of what he was saying. Rachel looked down at her shoes, her face going the color of the setting sun. Getting that compliment from Finn had so much meaning then it would from anyone else.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked him, and Finn only nodded, following Rachel to the living room. He plopped himself onto the couch, still looking at Rachel like she was a shining star in the midnight sky. Rachel left him in the living room as she walked towards the kitchen, and Finn's eyes instantly drifted downwards to Rachel's butt, admiring it. It was her voice that broke him out of his trance.

"Do you want something to drink?" Rachel called from the kitchen, and Finn told her that he was fine. He probably wouldn't be able to swallow water anyway with Rachel sitting a couple of feet away from him, looking as pretty as she did. Rachel came back to the room, taking the seat next to Finn, a large glass of water in her hands. She took a sip, and Finn watched her wet lips as her tongue darted out to lick them. He had to purse his lips together to restrain himself from attacking Rachel with his own lips. "Quinn told me something yesterday, and it really had me thinking about you and me."

Finn looked up at her, as his eyes had gone to the floor and tried to forget about his great urge to kiss Rachel. What about him and Rachel? What was Rachel thinking about? Was she thinking about forgetting about Alex completely and getting together with Finn because she finally realized that she likes Finn as much as Finn likes her? If that was the case, Finn would gladly agree.

"And what were you thinking?" Finn asked in a quiet tone, and Rachel glanced at him, biting her lip and looking down at the floor as if she was embarrassed. Finn just kept staring at her, not even noticing how nervous she was.

"Well, Quinn has been seeing…this guy for a while, and I asked her what their relationship was." Rachel hesitated, glancing up at Finn to see that he was looking intently at her, impatiently waiting for her to go on. "She wasn't sure what their relationship was, and she said that they were just letting things happen naturally. You know, acting on their feelings without letting things like serious relationships or friendships get in the way."

Rachel was quiet as Finn thought about what she said, turning it over in his head. What did Quinn and some random guy's relationship has anything to with the two of them? Wait, was Rachel trying to say that that's what she and Finn should do; just act on their feelings for one another and let emotion take over, because if that was the case, Finn would have Rachel under him in a heated kiss in seconds.

"Rachel, what are you trying to say?" Finn said slowly, still trying to get used to this new idea. He thought Rachel was suddenly into Alex, but now she wanted something to happen between her and Finn? It didn't seem like a very Rachel thing to do. Rachel huffed loudly, trying to figure out the easiest and least awkward way to say this.

"Finn, what I'm trying to say is that if we did that, admit our feelings earlier on and do what our…hearts told us to do, and then maybe we wouldn't be in this situation at all. Maybe there wouldn't be any Alex at all." Rachel answered in a whisper, and her eyes met his. So if Finn didn't bother to be Rachel's friend, if Finn just went for Rachel as more then friends, he wouldn't be feeling the need to hit something every two minutes out of jealousy? He wouldn't have to be worrying about a stupid guy named Alex who he was sure Rachel was starting to like even more? Damn, if he and Rachel acted on how they felt, the two of them could be making out right now instead of just talking.

"What does this mean, Rachel? Are you trying to tell me that there could simply be no Alex as long as we were just plain honest with our feelings?" Finn asked; he wanted to make sure he understood this correctly. It sounded like it was too good to be true; Rachel just wanted to act on how they felt? Well, Finn could do that. Finn would be too happy to do that! She nodded silently, and Finn had to bite back a smile. "So, can we, like, start that…now?"

"Well, um, oh, I don't-", but Rachel never finished her sentence, because Finn was leaning in closer now, and she found herself doing the same. This was it; this was that moment. It was another one of their moments, another one of those times where everything fell right into place and the urge was too strong to hold back. Finn's lips were so close to hers, and all Rachel had to do was lean in one more inch and she would feel it. This was the moment, and she was going to act on it. His hand came up to cradle her cheek softly, rubbing circles against her soft skin with his thumb, and she leaned into the hand, closing her eyes. Yes, Rachel was going to kiss Finn. She was going to kiss Finn now.

The doorbell snapped both of them out of the trance, and Rachel slapped Finn's hand away, tumbling off the bed and falling on the floor. Finn still sat in the same position as before, his hand in midair where it had been touching Rachel's cheek. She looked at him with wide eyes, scrambling to get up.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no." she chanted, running out of the living room and towards the front door. Finn heard her open the door, and Alex's voice dragged into the apartment. Finn closed his eyes at the sound of his voice, putting his hand in his lap, and taking a deep breath before standing up and welcoming Alex. He really felt the need to punch that guy in the face more than ever for ruining his moment to kiss Rachel. In the hallway, Finn saw Rachel smile at Alex and they said their hellos. Finn cleared his throat so Alex would notice his presence, because he spotted him checking out Rachel in her dress. The only person allowed to check out Rachel in a dress was Finn.

"Oh, Finn, I wasn't expecting you to be here. You do spend a lot of time here, don't you?" Alex asked, surprised to see him here again. Why did Finn spend so much time at Rachel's anyway? Couldn't they go to his apartment for once? Finn gave Alex a tight smile, trying to hold back his anger for ruining his kiss with Rachel.

"Rachel invited me to come along." He said, and Alex turned to Rachel, clearly taken back. So he didn't know about Finn joining them? This would be interesting. But Alex only looked a little mad for a moment before putting another smile on, turning back to Finn nervously.

"Wonderful. That's wonderful." Alex said quickly, and Rachel bit her lip.

"That's alright, right Alex? I figured you and Finn could get to know each other more this way." Rachel explained, and Alex nodded his head, reassuring her that it was perfectly fine. Finn had a feeling Alex wasn't being totally honest with her. Rachel turned to Finn, to make sure he was still okay with all of this.

"We should get going." He said, not able to give Rachel an assuring smile. Alex led them out of the apartment, where he immediately took Rachel's hand into his own. Finn walked behind them, eyeing their locked hands and wishing that Rachel would pull her hand away from Alex's and takes Finn's instead.

FRFRFRFR

Alex and Rachel chatted excitedly, laughing at the same things and smiling at one another as Finn poked his spaghetti and meatballs with his fork, sulking and wishing Rachel would realize he was there. Throughout the whole dinner so far, Rachel and Alex had barely acknowledged his existence, almost sending the waitress away once the two of them had ordered their food. If the waitress wasn't so mesmerized by Finn's looks and asked him what he wanted, Finn wouldn't have ordered anything at all.

"I hate how everyone thinks that if you're in Hufflepuff, that means you're a loser and you're not good for anything." Rachel was saying, and Alex nodded quickly, agreeing with her. They were now on the topic of Harry Potter, which Rachel had found out that Alex was just as obsessed with as she was. She had read those books too many times to count.

"What about you, Finn? What's your take on the Hogwarts houses?" Rachel suddenly asked, turning to Finn. Finn looked up from his meal, his mouth slightly opened, trying to form an answer. It was the first time Rachel had said something to him since they arrived at the restaurant, and Finn couldn't even think straight. Hogwarts houses; what were the houses again?

"I don't really have an opinion on them. I've only seen the movies, sorry." He said quietly, glancing down at his food. Alex gave him a look that clearly said he was judging him on the fact that he never bothered to read the Harry Potter series, but Rachel just gave him an understanding smile.

"That's okay. At least you've seen the movies." She said, feeling the urge to take his hand, but feeling that it wasn't appropriate. Finn tried to smile back at her, but he had the feeling that it wasn't okay; his lack of reading only made him more of an outcast from Rachel and Alex.

"Yeah, they were good." He noted, and then Rachel's attention was directed back at Alex, where they started talking about the differences between the books and movies, and what they wished the movies didn't leave out. Feeling no need to even try and participate in this conversation and wishing that he had stayed home instead of coming here with Rachel and Alex, Finn picked up one of the breadsticks from the side of his plate, taking a small bite of it. For a place that named itself after the food breadsticks, the breadsticks weren't even that great here. What a stupid place for Alex to bring them to.

"So tell me more about your job, Alex. You must constantly be working." Rachel said, putting her chin in her hand for support. Finn bothered to spare Alex a glance, before his eyes shifted to look at Rachel's face.

"Well, like I said, there aren't that many of us working on the site." Alex told Rachel, and Finn rolled his eyes, putting all his focus on staring at Rachel without making it too obvious. Alex kept talking about his job, but Finn could only concentrate on how beautiful Rachel was and how he deserved to be with her more than Alex did. Her and Finn were better friends after all, and it was clear that Rachel had feelings for Finn in a more than a friend way. She had to return the feelings Finn had for her. He didn't know what he would do if Rachel didn't.

"Would you like to have some dessert or coffee?" the blonde waitress said, coming back to their table. She flashed Finn another flirty smile, but Finn ignored her, grumbling quietly and glaring at his food. Alex glanced at Rachel, unsure of how to respond. Rachel shrugged, nodding her head.

"I guess I'll have a coffee." She told the waitress, telling her exactly how she wanted it, and then Alex joined her with his own order. The waitress looked over at Finn, who was still glaring at his plate.

"What about you, sir? Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked, giving Finn a sly smile. Finn didn't even hear her double meaning of the waitress' words. He didn't even look up from his plate when he told her no. He was in no mood for coffee or cake or ice cream; tonight was not a night worth any of those delicious foods.

The waitress soon came back with the coffee, warning Rachel that it might be a little hot, and then giving Finn one more desperate look, asking him for the last time if there wasn't something she could do for him. This time, Finn did pick up her double meaning, and he instantly thought that the only person he wanted that double meaning from was Rachel.

"No." he mumbled, and the waitress left, clearly disappointed, but Finn didn't even notice. Rachel and Alex kept having a good time while Finn sat there and sulked. This was most definitely one of the worst nights of his life.

FRFRFRFR

When the three of them walked out of the restaurant, Finn couldn't be any more grateful. It was about time this long night ended, and as he watched Rachel and Alex stand outside with their coats wrapped firmly around their bodies, Finn wondered if he had imagined the whole thing that happened between him and Rachel before Alex had knocked on her door earlier that evening. If she wanted to act on her feelings so much with Finn, then why was she leading Alex on like this?

It was very cold outside, and Finn could see his breathe, wishing that Rachel and Alex would just say their goodbyes already. Finn noted that Alex seemed to move closer to Rachel, putting his hand on her arm. His eyes narrowed in on the two of them enviously.

"Rachel, we should get going. It's late." Finn said louder then he meant to, moving to stand next to Rachel, not even looking at Alex. Rachel looked from Finn to Alex and then at her watch, realizing exactly what time it was.

"Oh, I didn't realize how late it was. Thank you so much for the dinner Alex, it was delicious." Rachel said, and Finn held back a snort. If she was saying the dinner was delicious, then Rachel mustn't have been talking about the breadsticks, because they absolutely sucked.

"It was my pleasure. I had a good time. We should go out again sometime." Alex said, smiling at Rachel. Yeah right, as far as Finn was concerned, these Rachel and Alex dates were done and over with. At least, that's what he hoped. Alex's eyes shifted from Rachel to Finn, realizing something. "Wait, why is Finn going home with you?"

"Oh, no, Finn's not going home with me, he just lives in my direction." Rachel explained, letting out a small laugh. What would be so funny about Finn going home with Rachel? Alex joined in with her laughter after a second, still giving Finn a suspicious look.

"Well, maybe I should walk you home." He offered, and Rachel shook her head, saying that that wasn't needed. Her response gave Finn a little hope; maybe Rachel didn't want Alex to walk her home, because she didn't really feel anything for him. Maybe she didn't really like Alex in that way at all. Finn's newly found hopes were broken the second after he thought them.

Alex had closed the distance between Rachel and him, and Rachel's lips connected to his in a kiss that made it feel like something was punching Finn right into the gut repeatedly. Alex had his eyes closed, and Rachel looked taken by surprised, her hands awkwardly resting on Alex' shoulders. Finn's fists clenched and unclenched as something inside of him burned like fire, and he watched with slit eyes as Alex smashed his lips against Rachel's, feeling a very great need to punch Alex right in the face. Finn seemed to stop thinking; he was too busy trying to control himself from absolutely attacking Alex. How dare him! What gave Alex the right to just kiss Rachel like that when she so clearly did not want it? God, Finn wanted to punch him. He wanted to punch him really, _really _badly!

"Okay, that's enough!" Finn suddenly exclaimed, literally taking hold of Rachel's shoulder and pulling her away from Alex and his stupid lips. Rachel didn't seem like she was responding much anyway to the kiss, but when Finn pulled her away, she turned to face him.

"That was very rude Finn." She told him, and Finn couldn't help but roll his eyes. He was being rude? He wasn't the one who just completely attacked Rachel with his lips while another man was standing there.

"That's okay Rachel, I have to go anyway. It's late." Alex said, giving Rachel a sympathetic look, before glancing up at Finn with a slight smirk on his face. That little bastard, Finn thought himself; he knew that that kiss would make him angry! Damn Alex and his bastardness that Rachel seemed to like so much.

"Have a good night Alex." Rachel said, and Finn didn't hear Alex' response; he was too busy figuring out ways to destroy Alex for kissing Rachel. Rachel tugged on his arm, and Finn noticed that Alex was walking in the opposite direction of them, and Finn turned the other way to follow Rachel down the sidewalk.

"I can't believe that tool; kissing you like that, how disgusting." Finn said angrily after they turned a corner. Rachel glared at him, and he wondered why she was suddenly so pissed.

"_I _can't believe how rude you were being Finn!" she said loudly, and Finn scoffed. Yeah, he was the rude one, sure.

"I was not! Alex was the one who threw himself at you!" Finn said back, and felt like barfing just by the memory. The kiss was so disgusting, and it felt like Alex was actually asking for Finn to punch him.

"I'm not just talking about what happened with the kiss, Finn. I'm talking about the entire night. You were supposed to talk with Alex and connect with him, but instead you just kept quiet the entire time and acted like a six-year-old!" Rachel pointed out, and Finn glared down at her. It wasn't his fault that Rachel and Alex only talked about stuff that he didn't know about or was interested in. Maybe if that had talked about stuff that Finn liked, he would have actually said stuff. But no, Rachel and Alex had to bond over people turning into animals and kids going to a wizard school.

"Alex is stupid. He's a douche bag, and he also looks like a terrible kisser." He said, not even bothering to look at Rachel's reaction now. She gasped at him, slapping his arm, but Finn ignored her as he kept walking with determination.

"Don't say those things! God dammit, why are you acting like this? It's like your, I don't know, jealous of Alex or something." Rachel said loudly, struggling to keep up with Finn's fast pace. Finn snorted at her words, yeah, she got it exactly right, but Finn wasn't going to admit that. That would just make everything worse then it already was.

"Please! Like I would be jealous of Alex! Why would I be jealous of him anyway? Do I want to be a geek too, or do I wish I worked for Tumblr? No, and it's because I don't wish for those things Rachel!" Finn turned around to face Rachel, both of them stopping in their tracks. He glared down at her and Rachel returned the look, and all of Finn's feelings seem to come to the surface as they stared at each other. "Am I jealous that you're suddenly into Alex and he's totally into you, and I'm just standing here thinking 'what the hell, I wish that was me she was into'? No Rachel, I'm not angry about that either!"

"Then stop acting like a jealous boyfriend!" Rachel shouted back in frustration after a silent moment in which she thought about what Finn had just said. She was staring daggers into Finn, feeling the anger boiling up inside of her, but the only thing Rachel could think about was Finn. She could only think about how much she adored angry and jealous Finn. This was a Finn she had never seen before, and Rachel had to admit it, this Finn was hot. She was angry and mad and frustrated, but the only thing Rachel could think about was wrapping her arms around Finn's neck and kissing him until neither of them could think anymore. But no, Rachel couldn't do that. There was so much going on; there was Alex and anger with Finn, and- and life. No, Rachel couldn't get side tracked by her feelings for Finn.

In the next moment though, Finn's hands were on either side of Rachel's face, dragging his head down so their lips could meet in a deep kiss. Rachel was so surprised by this, that she was still with shock as Finn kissed her greedily, savoring the taste of Rachel on his lips. She was finally able to respond, and instead of pushing Finn away like she should have, Rachel threw hers arms around Finn's neck, opening her mouth to let Finn's tongue into her mouth.

It was so perfect, and Rachel had missed this so much that she didn't want the moment to end. Being here in Finn's grip with his tongue searching their kiss, Rachel felt comfortable. She felt warm and wonderful and _home. _Finn gripped Rachel's waist, pulling her body flush against his, and Rachel could feel on her leg how much of an effect she was having on Finn. She ran her hands through Finn's hair as he moved his lips from Rachel's mouth to her neck, licking and sucking. Closing her eyes in peace, Rachel turned her neck to give Finn more space to work with, and her mind went completely blank. Rachel couldn't remember anything that was going on or what was happening; the only thing she could concentrate was Finn and his body and his lips on her skin.

He let out a small growl as his lips met hers again in a deep kiss, and something struck Rachel in the back of her mind. _Shit. _What was going on? What was Rachel doing? Her hands were on his chest, and with all her might, Rachel pushed Finn away from her, not wanting to stop but needing to still. Finn let go of her, falling a few steps back, watching Rachel with wide eyes as if he didn't understand what he had just done. Rachel looked at him, her eyes just as wide, trying to get a grip on what had just happened between her and Finn. Finn recovered first, and the expression on his face changed from shock to determination as he took a brave large step towards Rachel, taking hold of her small hands tightly. He just looked frustrated again.

"But I am jealous Rachel! I'm so damn jealous of Alex I don't know what to do with myself! Don't you see that?" Finn growled, shaking Rachel's hands in his. She looked at him, trying to wrap her head around all of this, her mouth slightly opened. "I like you, Rachel. I _like _you, like you. And I know that you like me too! Listen to me, I don't why you've suddenly brought Alex into the picture, and I don't know why you're suddenly into him, but I like you and you like me! So I don't see why we're wasting this time not together, when you and I were clearly meant for each other! Can't you see that? Dammit, why don't you see that Rachel? I just want to be with you, and I don't mean as your friend or your customer at the Dunkin' Donuts, I mean your boyfriend! I mean I want to be the guy that you love and the guy that you celebrate Valentine's Day with, and the guy that you'll find in your bed the morning and smile at and remember how lucky you are to have that guy with you! I want to be that guy for you Rachel, but you're making it so damn hard for me to be that guy because you keep bringing in these other guys!"

Finn gasped loudly after he was done talking, trying to figure out what he had just said and how much he had just admitted to Rachel. Shit, he had said a lot. And shit, Rachel was giving him that look that said she couldn't talk. Oh God, why did he say all of that? Why couldn't Finn just keep his mouth shut and smile and nod and keep all his feelings to himself like he was supposed to? Why did he have to spill all his feelings to Rachel in one shot and ruin any kind of friendship he had with her? Dammit, their friendship! Their friendship, whatever it really was, was completely wiped out with Finn's speech now. They could never be just friends again after what Finn had just admitted.

"I-I'm sorry." He stuttered out after the loudest silence in the world. Rachel was still gaping at him at a loss for words. Finn shook his head over and over again, letting go of her hands and not daring to look into Rachel's eyes. "I- I don't know where that came from. It's just that you- you make me feel these feelings, Rachel that no one has ever made me feel before. It's like when I'm with you, everything seems like it's okay. It feels like I can do anything and everything in the world is perfect, and I don't know, I just felt something really weird when I saw you with Alex, and I'm sorry. Sometimes I word vomit and I guess I just did that, and shit, I'm doing it again, aren't I?" Finn glanced up at Rachel to see that yes, he was word vomiting again, and Rachel simply watched him in silence. "My point is Rachel, my main point is, that I care about you. I like you Rachel, and I want to be with you, and I have a feeling that you want to be with me too. Please say you want to be with me too."

There; Finn was done talking now. He had said everything he had to say without thinking about how this would affect their friendship, which was dumb of him and now all Finn could do was wait for Rachel to respond. If she was going to respond at all; Rachel only kept staring at him, not finding the ability to talk. She opened her mouth a couple of times, as if she was going to say something, but then thinking better of it. Finally, Rachel spoke.

"I'm sorry, Finn. I can't handle this right now. I have to go." She said, and with those painful words hanging in the air, Rachel turned away from Finn and quickly walked the other way, her small figure disappearing down the street. Finn watched her go, his hand outstretched as if he wanted to stop her, and he tried to understand what had just happened and how badly he messed things up.


	13. Finally Getting my Moment

**There is a soulmate for everyone. It's only a matter of finding that person. Some people settle for people who only love them, not finding their real soulmate. Finding your other half could take a life time to find, but is well worth it.**

**-me (16)**

She rolled over in her bed, the blankets twisted around her legs, and the sunlight coming through the window. Rachel put her arm over her eyes, sighing loudly, and trying to remember exactly what happened last night. There was that moment before she saw Alex where she almost kissed Finn, they all went to a restaurant where Finn didn't say anything, Alex gave her a sudden and random kiss, and then Finn _kissed her _and admitted that he had feelings for her. Okay, so everything was screwed up then.

Thinking about all of it made Rachel's head hurt, and she rubbed her temples, trying to relax and think things through without losing her mind. First thing she had to deal with was Alex and that kiss he gave her. Alex was a good guy; he was sweet, smart, a gentleman, hell, he was everything Rachel could ask for, but something was horribly off. It was that kiss; something felt weird when he kissed her. It just felt forced, and Rachel felt like she was _trying _to feel something instead of actually feeling something. Was it like that when she kissed Finn?

Kissing Finn; that was another problem entirely. Yes, Rachel had always had feelings for Finn; that much was obvious, and it worried her that she was still having these feelings for him even after meeting Alex. In all honesty, Rachel felt like she was leading on both boys and that made her feel terrible about herself. But it wasn't her fault she suddenly had all these guys in her life that wanted her! That had never happened to Rachel before! She didn't know what to think, or how to act, or whose heart to break. Did she have to break a heart anyway? Maybe Alex didn't feel the spark either and he would be fine with ending whatever was happening with him and Rachel. But Finn…Finn was something Rachel couldn't figure out.

They were friends, they had always been friends and they both had made that very clear in the beginning of their friendship. Well, if you don't include that night at the bar and their small make out session, then what Rachel and Finn were supposed to have been was a completely platonic friendship, right? Yes, Rachel had liked Finn as more than just a friend, but she thought he didn't return the feelings, but now everything was just twisted up. Finn did return her hidden feelings it turned out, and he revealed them at a very inappropriate time. God dammit, why did Finn have to tell Rachel he liked her now? Why did he have to tell her after she found this overall perfect man who spent his free time at the bookstore just like her?

Rachel felt too lost to know what to do.

RQRQRQRQ

"Rachel, are you still asleep?" Quinn shouted through the closed door, knocking twice. Rachel pushed the blankets off her body, pulling her bed hair out of her face. Of course she wasn't sleeping, who could sleep when she had such complicated things on their minds?

"Yeah, you can come in." she answered back, and Quinn opened the door, her hair in a messy bun. She sat down next to Rachel on the bed, smiling brightly. Rachel raised an eyebrow at her. "You're awfully perky for the morning. What's got into you?"

"I had another date with Puck last night." Quinn said with a small smile, crossing her legs and trying to hold her happiness back. Rachel huffed loudly, falling back on the bed. Quinn looked down at her.

"At least one of us has an easy love life." Rachel sighed, and Quinn fell back on the bed with her, lying next to Rachel on her back. She glanced at her best friend before looking up at the blank ceiling in front of her.

"What's wrong? I thought you were seeing that sweet Alex guy." She asked, and Rachel sighed again, reliving the night before in her mind. That sweet Alex guy; that perfectly sweet, adorable, nerdy, wonderful Alex guy; he would definitely make a good boyfriend.

"I was, I mean, I think I am, I mean…oh, forget it! It's just Finn; he has feelings for me and is jealous of Alex." Rachel told Quinn, glancing at her to see her expression. Quinn let out a short laugh, thinking about the irony in it all, and then gave Rachel a pity smile.

"I'm sorry Rachel. That sounds awful, not the part about guys having feelings for you, but for the part about _two_ guys having feelings for you." Quinn said, and then thought for a moment before adding, "Wait a second, I thought you liked Finn in that way too."

"I do, I think I do anyway, but then there's Alex. And I just don't know what to do about Alex." Rachel explained, and Quinn nodded silently. Rachel expected Quinn to say something in return, maybe some good best friend advice, but she soon realized that all she was getting were some nods so Rachel decided to keep talking. "I don't know what to do Quinn. I like Finn a lot, like, more than I could explain, but I can't figure him out. Every time I feel like I've gotten to the core of Finn Hudson, every time I feel like I've finally discovered his true self, it's like a whole new piece of him appears out of nowhere. It's like there's another layer to Finn that I have to slowly pull away and rediscover him. It makes things hard to do and think, because I'm not sure what he's completely like and I have feeling there's always this part of him that I don't know about yet. I've never met someone like that Quinn, I've never met someone that was so complicated and that I wanted to know about so badly. I just don't know what to do."

A long silence followed Rachel's words as Quinn bit her lower lip, deep in thought. She had never heard her best friend talk about someone like that before; it sort of reminded her how she felt about Puck. She felt like there was always something to Puck that she didn't know about and was impatient to figure out what it was. Was feeling that way the way you were supposed to feel? Was it okay to feel this way? What did feeling this way even mean? Why did everything have to be so hard to figure out and why did nothing ever seem to make any sense?

"Let me ask you this Rachel, do you like Finn as more than a friend?" Quinn finally asked, and Rachel was quiet as she thought about this. Of course she liked Finn as more than just a friend, the first time she ever laid eyes on the boy Rachel was head over heels for him. But admitting those feelings to Finn and ruining their friendship and hurting Alex would be a lot harder then it seemed, and hurting someone so she could be happy wasn't something Rachel wanted to do.

"Of course I do, you know that Quinn, but what about Alex? What am I supposed to do about Alex? And then what about…." Rachel's words faded away, and she never got to finish her last question, afraid to say it out loud. If she did really ask the question and Quinn said yes, Rachel was sure it would kill her. It really would.

"Alex is good; he'll understand. Don't worry about Alex; he'll be fine, worry about your happiness Rachel. You deserve happiness, and so does Finn, and if you two can give each other that, why miss out on the chance?" Quinn asked, and Rachel bit her lip in deep thought. Quinn was right, as usual, but it didn't make the situation that much easier.

RARARARA

Her fingers were twisted together in nervousness as she bit her lip, scanning the coffee shop for his figure. Rachel had never had to do something like this before; dump someone. Only a couple of guys in Rachel's life had shown genuine interest in her, and she had never had to let those guys down because they let her down. That made it even worse in a way, because Rachel knew how hard this was going to hit Alex.

Rachel saw as Alex entered the room, waving at her with a big smile and walking over to the counter to get his coffee. She tried to smile at him, but it came out as a more of a grimace, and the guilt in Rachel's stomach hurt even more when she saw how happy Alex was. He wouldn't be that happy when he left the coffee shop. But no, Rachel had to do this, Rachel wanted this. She wanted Finn, she needed to be with Finn, and Alex was getting in the way of that. There wasn't another choice; Rachel's mind had been made upon her first meeting with Alex.

"Sorry I'm late. The traffic was worse than usual." Alex said as he took the seat opposite of Rachel with the coffee in his hand with a smile. Rachel only frowned and looked down at her coffee that she hadn't taken a sip of yet. She didn't have an appetite for coffee at the moment. Seeing the expression on her face, Alex frowned in worry. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Alex." Rachel whispered after a moment, and Alex's eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

"What are you sorry for?" he asked, and Rachel found it hard to swallow. It felt like there a frog in her throat, and she took a large gulp of coffee, hoping that would clear her throat. It only burned it, and Rachel shut her eyes closed before opening them again.

"Something happened to me recently, I mean, someone told me something very important the other day. Actually, it was right after you took me out to dinner at Breadsticks. Anyway, it was someone I know…they told me that they liked me, Alex, in more than just a friend way." Rachel explained nervously in a quiet tone, not daring to look up at Alex's face, and instead concentrating on her coffee. Alex leaned in closer, not sure if heard correctly.

"Who is this someone?" he asked, and Rachel didn't answer, only shaking her head. Why did having to break hearts have to be this hard? Why couldn't it be easier and less painful? Rachel felt so selfish at the moment for getting her happiness with Finn but hurting Alex. The next thing Alex said made Rachel almost cry. "It was Finn, wasn't it? He's the one who wants to be with you like the way I want to be with you?"

Rachel was biting on her lip so hard now it started to bleed. Yes, of course Alex would know it was Finn, who else would it be? She couldn't even find it in herself to answer Alex at the moment, and chose to not answer the question but say something else.

"I don't think he wants to be with me the same way you want to be with me. I think…I'm so sorry Alex, but I think Finn wants to be with me more than you do. I think he might be…falling in love with me." Rachel said in a whisper, and she finally looked up to see the face Alex was wearing. To her great surprise, Alex didn't look like he was in pain or looked like Rachel had just slapped him; his face was rock hard. His eyes almost looked black, and Rachel didn't know what to make out of all of it.

"What about you Rachel? Do you think you might be in love with Finn too?" Alex asked, and Rachel turned her head to look out the window at the busy street. That was the real question, wasn't it? Was Rachel falling in love with Finn? Right now, Rachel didn't know. Hell, she was lucky she could figure out that she wanted to be with Finn more then she wanted to be with Alex. But love, that was something Rachel had never felt before, so how was she supposed to know if she falling in love with Finn? And what would happen if she did love him? Wouldn't loving him just hurt her more if something bad happened to the two of them?

"I don't know. Maybe, I have to think about it." She breathed out, rubbing her forehead in thought. Love; why did that seem to be the main focus in the world anyway? Why was it that you always had to be in love or that you wanted to be in love? Why couldn't someone just be someone without feelings like love getting in the way? But then again, you don't choose to be in love, do you, it just sort of happens. Was it sort of happening for Rachel now? Maybe she had to wait a little longer to find out.

"I think you do." Alex noted, and Rachel looked up at him again, seeing that now he looked a little sad. Seeing someone sad always made Rachel sad, and this made her feel even worse, because she knew she was the one who made Alex sad.

"I'm so sorry Alex. Doing this with you, you and me, it was a mistake. I guess I just never thought this would happen." Rachel said, and to her surprise, Alex let out a laugh. He was wearing a small smile now, and Rachel wondered what so funny about this situation.

"I did, I saw this coming. I mean, I had a feeling Finn liked you like that. He made it pretty obvious when he pulled you away from me when I kissed you, and he was always at your apartment when I came by, so I was a little suspicious. It's my fault, in a way, because I knew there was something going on between you two, and yet I still got in the middle of it." Alex said, and Rachel felt something get caught in her throat again. Poor Alex, he knew something was happening with Finn and Rachel, and yet he still held on, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was. She didn't know what to say.

"Again, I'm sorry Alex. I really don't know what else to say." She said truthfully, and Alex's face suddenly became darker, his eyes narrowing in on her. Rachel didn't know how to handle this new expression on Alex's; she had never seen him so made before.

"You don't have to say anything. You've said enough." Alex said quickly, and then he stood up, facing the other way so Rachel was looking at his back. Dammit, why did breaking hearts have to be so hard even if it was for her and Finn? Rachel reached her hand out in the air, as if to stop Alex from walking away, but she didn't have enough energy to try anymore. It was time Rachel decided what was more important to her.

"Are you just never going to speak to me ever again? Are we still going to be friends?" Rachel asked, still wanting to make things right with Alex. She didn't want him absolutely hating her now, she didn't know if she could handle that. Alex slowly turned back around to face Rachel; pain etched on his face, Rachel could feel the same pain he was feeling by just looking at his face.

"Rachel, I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to have too many friends." He said quietly, and without waiting for a response, Alex left the coffee shop, gone from Rachel's life forever. Well, Rachel thought to herself as she finished her coffee, at least she could now act on her feelings for Finn.

FRFRFRFR

She didn't really know what she was doing at the moment; Rachel was sort of aware that she was making coffee for a customer, but her mind just wasn't on Earth at the second, it was in thoughts of Finn. Yes, it had been hard to break it off with Alex and be honest with him, but Rachel knew now that it was only for the better. Alex was a sweet guy, one of the sweetest guys Rachel had ever met, and he was the perfect boyfriend, but he wasn't the perfect boyfriend for Rachel. No, Rachel's perfect boyfriend was tall, a security guard, and had an ex-girlfriend who was now a lesbian. The more Rachel thought about it, the more she was excited to see Finn to tell him this wonderful news.

Rachel liked Finn, she always had, and the sooner she admitted that and didn't fret that Finn didn't return her feelings, the sooner they could be together. And that was all Rachel ever wanted, that was all she had wanted since meeting Finn Hudson. The next person to walk into the Dunkin' Donuts made Rachel's heart stop beating, and the handsome figure made his way towards the counter, looking down at the floor.

"Coffee please, and make it quick." Finn said, looking down at the counter and not meeting Rachel's eyes. She didn't understand this; why was Finn suddenly not talking to her? One moment he was telling her he liked her and kissing her, and the next Finn was acting like he didn't even know who Rachel was. Why did everything have to be so complicated and ruined with Finn all the time? Why couldn't things like this just be easy?

"Why aren't you talking to me, Finn?" Rachel asked as she handed him his coffee. Still not looking at her, Finn fumbled with taking the money out of his wallet, handing it carefully over so as to not touch Rachel at all. He didn't even answer her question, so Rachel decided to just be out with the truth. "I just want you to know that I ended it with Alex because I just want to be with you, and only you Finn."

At these words, something flashed through Finn's eyes, making him glance up quickly but not daring to look into Rachel's eyes. He knew that if he looked into those eyes, it would just hurt more, and right now, he didn't want to deal with the pain.

"Finn?" Rachel asked again, wondering what was wrong with him. Didn't he hear her; Rachel broke it off with Alex to be with him. Why did he still act all sulky and depressed? Finn clutched at his coffee, looking everywhere but at Rachel. She was getting tired of this; Rachel didn't know what was up with Finn, but she needed to find out now. "Just talk to me."

"I screwed up Rachel." He finally said, still not looking at her but at the counter instead. He looked sad and disappointed, and Rachel instantly touched his arm lightly, not knowing what to say. "I had this great friendship going on with you and I screwed it up. We can never go back to what we use to have. And it's my fault."

"It's not your fault Finn; it was going to happen at some point. I still want to be with you though, it's just…." Rachel's words drifted off as that one worry slipped into her mind. She didn't finish her sentence, not wanting to think about that. Finn's eyes finally met hers, and his frown became deeper.

"I want to be with you too, but…I'm sorry Rachel." He said, and before Rachel could respond, Finn had walked away and left the Dunkin' Donuts. Why was Finn acting like this all of a sudden? One moment he was kissing her, and the next he didn't even want to talk to Rachel. What was going on here exactly?

FRFRFRFR

This wasn't right; something was wrong here. Why was Finn acting like this? Rachel had to figure out what was wrong and fix it. It just didn't add up; Finn wanted to be with her, but he couldn't? Was that what he was trying to say? She didn't know what the big deal was; Rachel liked Finn and Finn liked Rachel, what was keeping them apart? Why did they have to keep running around in circles?

Maybe it was because she could only go so long without seeing Finn, maybe it was because things needed to be understood and back to normal, Rachel wasn't really sure what possessed her to go to Finn's apartment abruptly, but she found herself there none the less. One knock, two knocks, and the door opened, Finn's head peeking out to see who was there. His eyes landed on Rachel, who was holding her purse in front of her nervously, biting on her lower lip. Panic rose in his eyes, and Finn went to close the door again.

"Sorry, I can't talk right now." He said quickly, shoving the door closed, but Rachel put her foot out, making the door stop. She was not going to let Finn go and never talk about this; they were going to talk about this.

"Finn, just let me in. We need to talk." She insisted, and after a moment where Finn looked like he was deep in thought, he opened the door more, stepping out of the way to let Rachel in. With a sigh of relief, Rachel walked towards the kitchen, awkwardly standing in the middle of the room. She heard Finn's footsteps follow her, stopping at the entrance of the room. Rachel turned around to face him, but Finn's eyes shifted from all over to room, ignoring Rachel's eyes. He couldn't do that forever.

"So what are you doing here?" he finally spoke, trying to sound casual. Rachel stopped herself from rolling her eyes; what was she doing here. Wasn't that kind of obvious?

"You know why I'm here." She said in a quiet tone, waiting for Finn to say something in response. But still, he didn't talk, so Rachel went on. "You kissed me Finn, and told me that you really liked me, and that you wanted to be my boyfriend. And then I told you that I liked you back, and I turned Alex down because I only want you, and then you just walk away from me. What was that about? Why did you walk away Finn? I don't understand."

There was a strained silence following Rachel's question, and she waited patiently for Finn to say something. Taking a deep breathe, Finn took a seat at the kitchen table, Rachel joining him, keeping a close eye on him. After a moment of sitting in silence, Finn stood back up, moving towards a cupboard to get a glass of water. The ice cube machine was the only sound in the kitchen as Rachel still waited, and Finn rejoined her at the table. It was then that he talked.

"You're right; I want to be with you. Like, really, really badly, but I'm worried…. I'm worried that we'll get together, and it won't work out, and it'll be another Finn and Santana disaster where we never speak to each other ever again. And I don't want to lose that friendship with you, I don't want that in six months or so we'll see each other at a store and ignore one another or make mean comments. You mean too much to me for that to happen."

Hearing these words come out of Finn's mouth, made something in Rachel's stomach twist, and she gently touched his cheek, moving closer to him, staring at Finn intently. Not knowing what it was about, but enjoying it all the same, Finn leaned into her touch, closing his eyes in peace.

"Finn, if you really do feel that way about me, and I know you do, then you shouldn't be afraid. Don't worry about the 'what ifs', because what if it does work? What if we work? I think we'll work, and I want to see if I'm right." Rachel said softly, Finn still having his eyes closed. Without realizing it, Finn scooted closer to her, touching Rachel's arm. "Oh, baby, it'll work. We won't be like you and Santana, I promise that."

"How do you know? How can you be so sure?" He whispered, slowly opening his eyes to look at her. Rachel gave him a small smile in return, slightly reassuring him.

"Well, for one thing, I'm not a lesbian. And for another thing, I care about you too much to ever let you go." Rachel said, and before she could say anything else, Finn had closed the distance between them, softly putting his lips to hers.

Oh, how Rachel had missed this. It felt like it was so long ago the last time they had kissed. Every kiss Rachel had shared with Finn was beautiful, but there was something about this specific kiss; it was gentle, and slow, and loving. The other kisses always felt like they were trying to convey some sort of message of lust or desperateness or wanting, and although they still felt like no other kiss Rachel had ever had, they didn't measure up to this present one. This kiss that was happening right now, this kiss that was their _moment_, that moment Rachel had wanted so badly, was like a dream. And during the dream, Rachel couldn't concentrate on anything but Finn, and kissing Finn, well, it made everything seem so right and perfect. Yes, they would make it. It was in the kiss; they would make it with the kiss.

"Finn." She gasped the name once, breaking the lingering kiss, pulling away from Finn. He looked at her, she can see the hurt in his eyes, but Finn only brushed some of her brown hair back, running his hands through it, and Rachel had to remind herself to focus on her words.

"Shh, don't say anything right now." He whispered, and leaned in again to kiss Rachel. He got one small peck in before Rachel pushed at his chest, shaking her head. No, she was not going to get sidetracked from the question she had to ask. She needed to ask this question before she did anything else with Finn, because Rachel was sure that as soon as she stopped thinking with Finn and let her emotions play out, there was no turning back.

"No, I need to ask you this now. It's really important." She insisted, and seeing in her eyes that it was something serious, Finn pulled a little away from Rachel, his hand still in her hair. Their faces were only a couple of inches away, and Rachel could feel his breathe on her skin. It was only a little bit of a detraction.

"What is it sweetheart?" Finn asked, and while this sudden new nickname was adorable, and a piece of Rachel's heart melted when he called her that, sweet names wouldn't stop her from getting to her point.

"We met at a really inconvenient time. I mean, you were in a serious relationship with Santana, and then Santana broke your heart, and we became friends, and then Alex came along, and, well, it was all messed up. There was always so much going on, and for most of our friendship, you had a broken heart, and I…I feel like you built our entire friendship around your broken heart. You know what I mean?" Rachel asked, hoping what she was trying to say was making sense. But Finn just shook his head, and Rachel sighed loudly before going on. "I just want to make sure I'm not, you know, your rebound. That you're not just using me to get over Santana, because honestly Finn, I don't want to do anything with you that I'll regret tomorrow if your feelings for me aren't true."

Instead of giving an answer right away, Finn simply cupped Rachel's face in his hands, bringing her face closer to his, inhaling the scent that was Rachel Berry. He would never get tired of that scent; it was like stars, rainbows, and perfection, if those things even had a smell.

"Rachel, listen to me carefully. These feelings I have for you, the way I feel about you, they're real. I've been feeling this way about you even when I was still dating Santana, but I was just too stupid and blind to realize what they really were. For a year, all I saw in my future was marrying Santana, but then I met you, and suddenly I saw so much more for my future. I saw a job that I loved and happiness and _you. _You're not some rebound Rachel, you're the real thing." He told her, and Rachel had to blink back the tears gathering in her eyes. She didn't know why she was on the verge of crying; this wasn't something sad, but the tears still gathered, and she struggled to hold them back. Out of all the people in the world to get the fairytale ending with the loving guy, Rachel never expected it to be herself.

"Finn" Was the only word she can get out, before her lips were reconnected with his. Rachel wasn't sure what exactly happened after that; she felt Finn's arms go around her, their lips still connected while they struggled to walk to Finn's bedroom. Under normal circumstances, where Rachel was able to think straight, she would never allow something like this to happen, at least, not this quickly. She had learned her lesson with Jesse, but Finn was different. Finn wasn't Jesse, Finn wasn't any guy Rachel had ever met before; Finn was different. Finn was worth it.

They were both on the bed, rolling around, her lips never leaving his, and for a while, they did just sat; rolled around and kissed deeply, but it was soon not becoming enough. The sun setting outside, the dark blue in the sky turning to black, and Finn and Rachel were falling into the night, the rest of the world at loss. What mattered anyway, when Rachel was right here in Finn's arm? She was safe, and everything was at peace; nothing could go wrong at this moment.

Yes, it was very right. This was right. This moment was right. This was the moment. And Finn and Rachel were living in the moment. _Finally. _

**AN: Yeah, this is NOT the end of the story.**


End file.
